Watching over You
by oxynclaire
Summary: When the Maou is not there, a human boy with the same compassion as Yuuri shows up and helps the Mazoku. Who is he and why would he do that? Takes place between season 2 and 3 of the anime.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I will never own Kyou Kara Maou (T.T)

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Prologue_

"Heika..."

A man stood on the seashore, gazing at the sparkling star in the sky above. His soul longed for the only woman he served in this world, his one and only Queen. The darkness surrounding him, coupled with the brisk wind intensified his loneliness even more. How long had it been since he travelled across the globe, just to reach out to the heart of his Queen?

His Queen had truly been a dedicated ruler of the nation. She had sacrificed much of her own freedom and desires. She loved the country just like how a mother would exchange everything for the safety and happiness of her child. It was so cruel when fate decided to play around with her life, as if ignoring whatever she had done to improve the country.

Few years after she ascended to the throne, the nation was endangered with numerous crises. The land had become infertile, clean water was no longer abundant, and the most important aspect of a country, the people, had started to lost their hope for survival. The moment the people gave in to despair, things would surely go downhill thereafter. However, the Queen was not of a weak spirit. She did not even think of giving up on reviving her nation.

The Queen along with a handful of brave soldiers began their search for what could grant life to their nation. They explored every single inch of land and sailed across the vast sea, just to find the one thing that would save the country. Even so, their courage did not stop fate from putting them through more and more ordeal.

At a point in time, they were attacked by merciless bandits. Another time, they were chased away by people who feared that they would wreak havoc. Soon their number was reduced into a group of less than ten soldiers as the rest of the people were killed while protecting the Queen. Those soldiers died in honour, but there was no one to weep for them or to pay respect for all their contributions.

Finally, during an attack where nobody was expected to survive, save for the Queen and her aide, the man was separated from the Queen. He had miraculously survived despite his grave injuries. Nevertheless, staying alive was no different from death for him because he could no longer see his Queen until this day. He continued his fruitless search, only to be consumed even more with grief. It was hard for him to appreciate his life when the meaning in it was lost.

Suddenly, there was a flicker of a brighter star in his view. Was it finally his opportunity to get a step closer to his wish?

"This is the chance. I swear I will definitely get back to your side, Milady."

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><p>Hello! I'm back with another Kyou Kara Maou fanfic!<p>

I've put more thoughts on the plot and let's see how it turns out! :)

Get ready for the next chapter!


	2. The Wind

**Disclaimer: **Is there a way to own Kyou Kara Maou?

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_The Wind_

It has been a few days after Yuuri left for Earth permanently. As much as the people wanted to celebrate for their victory over Soushu, they found themselves unable to enjoy a true happiness. How can they rejoice when the cost for defeating Soushu was that they would never be able to see their loved Maou ever again? Yes, they were still smiling, but their smiles contained a tinge of sadness.

One day, the Maou's advisors were visiting Shinou's Temple to check on how the renovation had been progressing and undeniably, they were also sort of wishing that maybe they could find Yuuri there. The restoration of the Temple was going well and in no time, it should be as good as or even better that before.

Reflecting upon the past did give people some happiness. At least, even if they could not see Yuuri physically and hear his voice directly, Yuuri still lived in their memories. That was a proof enough for his irreplaceable existence in Shin Makoku. They felt lonely without Yuuri, but they have a duty to fulfil: to maintain the hard-attained peace in Shin Makoku. They would not want if Yuuri came back by chance in the future to find his kingdom neglected.

On the way back to the castle, there was a familiar wind blowing. It was a really calming breeze, so gentle like Yuuri's heart. Looking up to the clear blue sky, the four closest people to Yuuri realised that it was as though Yuuri was back to Shin Makoku. They could tell that something was different with the atmosphere, but they had to convince themselves that there was no way Yuuri could be back even if they wished for it.

Three days after that, Yozak surprisingly returned back to Blood Pledge Castle after his supposedly escape from Anissina's reach.

"You're back already?" Conrart greeted Yozak as Yozak entered the meeting room where everyone was gathering.

Yozak did not reply back straightaway, instead he was scanning around the room, looking for something.

"What is it?" Wolfram enquired the orange-haired spy.

"Eeh... I thought Bocchan has returned..." Yozak muttered, still figuring out whether Yuuri had really not returned or Yuuri was just playing a prank on him by hiding.

"Huh? There... There's no way he can..." Wolfram could not finish his sentence as he was reminded again of his sorrow from parting with Yuuri.

"Ah... I'm sorry..." Yozak felt very bad for Wolfram because he knew the young prince had taken this separation the hardest, "I guess it's just my feeling then..."

Silence fell in the room as nobody was able to respond. They did not want to have a false hope, but they also did not want to admit giving up to the situation at hand.

"Well then, I shall take my leave now. I don't think it's already safe in here," Yozak smirked, hinting at Anissina's never-ending experiments, "Excuse me."

With that he went out of the meeting room, leaving everyone in wonder if the wind they felt some days ago was actually Yuuri returning to them. Was it really him? But where could he have gone to, if not the fountain at the Temple?

Within moments, another soldier knocked at the door. When Conrart opened the door, the soldier was apparently a messenger from Shinou's Temple.

"Ulrike requested for our presence at the Temple immediately," Conrart said as he closed the door behind him.

"Could it be?" Gunter stood up from his seat.

"I don't know..." Conrart answered, eyes deep in thought of what might happen.

"Well, let's just get going to the Temple," Gwendal spoke up, already heading for the door.

They arrived at the temple after few minutes and they were waiting for Ulrike at the fountain area when a familiar splash was heard.

"Geika!" Gunter exclaimed in shock.

"Welcome back, Geika," Ulrike appeared right at that moment, bowing in respect.

"Good to be back, everyone," Murata smiled to the still shocked and stunned crowd.

"B-b-but how could you?" Wolfram stuttered, face reddening from whatever emotion he had suppressed.

"Err... well... since Shibuya defeated Soushu, he gained power even greater that Shinou's. So in short, he is able to travel between worlds on his own now," Murata explained so smoothly like it was just an ordinary fact that all fish could swim.

"Then where could he be?" Conrart asked as he did not see Yuuri anywhere near the vicinity.

"He's not here?" Murata's smile faded the moment he noticed something wrong.

"No, he's not, Geika," Ulrike also looked rather disturbed, "and you were late for few days..."

"Few days?" confusion started to become more obvious on Murata's face.

"Well, let's get you dried first before we continue discussing this," Conrart stepped forward, helping the Daikenja to stand and handing him a clean white towel.

They were now in the cavernous chamber in the deepest part of the Temple, where the Genshin Miko would pray and listen to Shinou's voice.

"So Yuuri hasn't arrived here and there was too much delay in my arrival..." Murata began.

"Yes," Ulrike confirmed him.

"So what is going on here?" Gwendal questioned the only two people who seemed to know everything that was going on behind their backs.

"Well, Lord von Voltaire, Shibuya was supposed to arrive here few days ago together with me. But something's wrong such that he hasn't reach here and I arrived much later than expected," Murata told the group.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Wolfram was totally clueless on how to handle this problem.

"We much search for him. He could be trapped between worlds – which is very unlikely – or he might have landed somewhere else..." Murata concluded, "Ulrike."

"Yes, Geika. I have been trying to find him, but there is no trace of his presence," Ulrike gazed at her crystal ball with a serious face.

"In that case, I think will stay here first," Murata decided, "Please search for Shibuya discreetly. It will be bad if this news were to be spread around. In the meantime, we should resume our duties as per normal."

"As you wish," Gwendal replied.

With Murata staying in the Temple, everyone went back to the castle to begin whatever preparation they needed to find their King. They were glad because the possibility of Yuuri coming back was not zero, but they were also worried for his safety. Nobody knew where he was and although they could feel that Yuuri was in this world, they could not tell his location exactly.

'Yuuri, what have you gotten yourself into? Just after you defeated Soushu...' Wolfram wondered in his mind.

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><p>First chapter done!<p>

This story might have shorter chapters, but there would be more chapters in it. So please bear with me. :)

Thanks a lot to my first reviewer, _jayfeather63_!

I feel so on, let me write another chapter today!


	3. Just a Commoner

**Disclaimer: **If I own Kyou Kara Maou, the anime would still be ongoing.

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Just a Commoner_

"Here, please send this as usual," a woman handed a basket full of freshly-picked fruits to a young boy, smiling to him sincerely.

"Alright, is there anything else I could help you with?" the boy offered as he took the basket carefully so as to not drop the contents inside.

"That's just it for today. Thank you so much," she patted his shoulder, "You should be resting after this. Don't force yourself to do too many things."

"I will," the boy nodded cheerfully, "I shall get going then. See you tomorrow!"

The boy left the woman to deliver some of the fruits they harvested today. He was working on a farm on the outskirts of Shin Makoku, helping the villagers with whatever he could afford to do with his rather weak physique. His willingness to give all he had to help others, his cheerfulness, and his very existence had added more colour to the mundane daily life of the farmers.

"He's such a nice boy," the woman turned to her husband.

"Yeah, it's good to see him so happy that way," he agreed as he stood beside his wife, watching the said boy disappeared from their sight.

"Maybe we could have him as our daughter's husband..." her voice trailed.

"Hush! If you do that, Stanley would probably never let him come to help us again," he said with a feigned seriousness.

"Haha... You're right. He would be consumed with jealousy," the woman laughed together with her husband as they recalled a certain over-protective friend of the boy.

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><p>"Leroy!" someone called him.<p>

"Oh, Stanley. You're done with your work too?" he put a smile on his face as his friend ran to him.

"Yeah, are you?"

"I just need to deliver this. After that I'm done."

"Hand me that," Stanley extended his arms to take the basket from Leroy.

"It's okay. I can manage this. I'm used to this anyway," Leroy politely rejected his friend's help.

"Nah," Stanley ignored Leroy and just took the basket from his hands, started walking.

"Ah, hey!" Leroy walked briskly to catch up with Stanley, silently grateful for his help because in fact he was feeling sore from the extra work he did today.

"Thanks," Leroy muttered, walking alongside his only one close friend he had.

"No problem. You should just admit you're tired rather than letting it show of you paler face," Stanley commented.

"Ah, you know me too well," Leroy grinned sheepishly. This one friend of his had never failed to read him like an open book.

Soon they reached their destination and after making sure the consignment safely get to the receiver's hands, they walked home together. Along the way, they met people they knew and everyone waved or greeted them. They had started living in the village no longer than a month ago and were already well-loved by everyone.

Stanley was quite a contrast to Leroy. Stanley was a rather brash and passionate young man, whereas Leroy was a gentle and stoic soul. Despite his sturdy built, Stanley was actually a very soft friend who deeply cared for Leroy. He had sworn that he would let no harm come to Leroy ever since he met him not too long ago.

Stanley was just recently moved to the village he stayed now when one day, the villagers were musing about what to do with a boy they found. He quickly arrived at a small hut where some villagers were tending to what appeared to be an anguished boy. So this was the one the people kept talking about.

Slowly he stepped into the hut, eyes looking for an explanation of the scene in front of him.

"We found him yesterday near the forest. He was badly wounded and was crying hard. We didn't know what happened to him and we tried to ask him, but he remained silent," one elderly, sitting beside the boy's bed, told Stanley.

Looking at the boy who was still leaking tears from his cobalt eyes, Stanley felt something familiar in his gut. It was a pity that such rare and beautiful eyes were filled with grief. Staring at the boy was like staring at his old self, when despair had successfully took the better of him. Stanley did not have the heart of letting this young stranger experience the same suffering in loneliness that he had years ago. Soon he found himself reaching out for the boy in the hope of consoling him.

Gently gripping the younger boy's hand, Stanley talked to him, "I'm Stanley. Is... is there anything I could do to help you?"

The boy just looked up with his completely wet face. Stanley knew this look so well as he had have it before, the helpless look as if nothing in this world mattered to him anymore. It was the expression of someone who had gone through the bitterest part of life that nobody would be able to ease the pain he felt. However, Stanley also knew the one thing that might have the chance of saving this boy's heart: someone's company – the one thing Stanley lacked in the past.

Realising that the boy would never give him an answer, he just pulled the boy into a hug.

"You're not alone. I'm here. I'm going to accompany you for as long as you need," Stanley spoke softly, aware that the boy stiffened at his sudden action.

"Uh... I..." the boy mumbled; the first noise he made besides his sobbing.

"It's okay. Just let it go. I won't hurt you nor leave you," Stanley caressed the boy's head like his own little brother.

"You don't need to say anything," Stanley continued as he recalled that during the times he was alone, what he really wanted was nothing like the sorts of money or food or anything else. What he longed for was just a warm hug and someone's company. Now they were what this boy needed and he was willing to give it all.

After being stunned for few moments, the boy began crying harder, letting out everything he held inside though he had cried for who knew how long.

Stanley nodded to the people surrounding him, signalling that it was going to be okay and let him take care of things. The villagers understood well and started to vacate the room, allowing the not-so-stranger help the stranger.

They remained in that position for quite long before the boy calmed down and Stanley released his hug. He moved to take a glass of water for the choking boy.

"What's your name?" Stanley asked slowly.

"Leroy," the boy tightened his hand around the glass.

"Leroy, it's a good name. Feeling better now? Do you want something to eat?"

Leroy shook his head, looking down.

"You must be thinking that I'm such a weird stranger, suddenly hugging you like that."

"N-no, I'm not," Leroy answered with a raspy voice from crying for so long, "I... actually thank you for that."

Stanley smile, knowing his effort was accepted.

"Say, maybe we could be good friends?" Stanley glanced at the uncertain boy across him. Oh well, he must be confused as to why a stranger would be so nice to him.

"Well, I think I sort of understand what you feel because something very sad had happened to me before. Umm... trust me, I'm here to help you, Leroy."

"Thank you," Leroy's voice was small, but the tender smile he managed to put on his lips sparked a warm glow in Stanley's chest. Stanley did not know that the feeling of acceptance was so nice.

"You can always count on me. Just remember that you're not alone," Stanley smiled back.

"Actually, someone very important for me had sacrificed his life for me because I was so weak," Leroy opened himself up.

Stanley was caught off guard as he did not expect Leroy would become so trusting to a mere acquaintance like him.

"I didn't know what to do and suddenly I found myself here," Leroy frowned; he could not recall much of what happened in the past days.

"But I think that doesn't matter because I've got to move on, right?" Leroy smiled sweetly again, "I feel like I can trust you. It's as though this has happened before, but I just can't remember it. You will help me, won't you?"

For a moment, Stanley just gazed wide-eyed at the boy before him. They had barely spent half a day together and yet Leroy was already so trusting to him. There was an inner strength inside that small frail body.

"Ah, yes, of course I will," Stanley responded, breaking out of his dazed state.

Without any warning, Leroy bent forward, putting one hand on Stanley's shoulder, "I could tell you went through a lot too. Thanks for sparing a heart for me. From now on, I will also help you as most as I can."

That was the beginning of the brightest days Stanley would enjoy after years in the darkness of despair. Finally, he thought to himself, he had found a companion whom he can trust his life with.

"Stanley!" Leroy's slightly louder voice jerked Stanley back to reality, after he let his mind wander to the first time they met.

"Geez... Have you been listening to me? I don't want to repeat the whole thing I said, you know," Leroy pouted; a childish trait of him.

"Oh sorry... I'm so sorry. Can you repeat that just once?" Stanley apologised guiltily.

"Well, in short, I was saying that maybe one day the Maou would be able to unite humans like me and mazokus."

Now, that incited another emotion in Stanley, something like annoyance and denial, "And how would he be able to do so?"

"I don't know. I heard he made lots of breakthrough and he has this compassion for both races. It's really awesome. I wish I could do something great like that."

"Before you do that, I'll make sure nobody would hurt you even if it means my own life," Stanley's mood had grown dark in a split second, "You, a human and I, a half-blood, are just powerless people not even living inside the main territory of the Maou. Nobody would come to protect us during hard times. Just a commoner, like you and I, would make no difference to this world."

"But I still believed in that sort of future. The Maou would surely be able to make it happen one day," Leroy insisted.

"Yeah, see if that's the case when the Maou is rumoured to be missing," Stanley ended their conversation as he took a turn towards his hut.

Okay, that was new information for Leroy. His information network was nowhere as good as Stanley's if he even had one, but he was quite sure that nobody has said something as controversial as this. Such breaking news would surely spread around the country in no time, yet he had heard none of it.

What could a country be without the King there? Not just the King, but the best King it had so far all the more.

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><p>'Great Shinou...' Gwendal groaned at the looming migraine at the back of his head.<p>

Weeks after the search for their Maou began, nothing came out. The aristocrats had been literally banging at his door, demanding for the King's whereabouts, fearing that he might leave the country for good. Could somebody just tell them to keep quiet? Indeed the Ten Nobles had fully acknowledged Yuuri and they trusted that Yuuri would come back for sure. However, some others were even more stubborn that Waltorana von Bielefeld could ever be.

Not only that, a childhood friend of his, the loud inventor who always considered him as a moniata – guinea pig – was not making life any easier for him. Anissina had successfully drained his abundant maryoku in minutes and made him drink some substance that he did not think it was even edible to begin with. The result was, he felt very tired all he wanted to do was to lock his room and sleep.

It was right at that moment that a soldier decided to knock at his office door rather impatiently.

"What is it?" he demanded while massaging his temples.

"Kakka, it's an emergency! It's reported that a group of rebellious humans are causing an outrage just outside the border!" the soldier reported with much urgency.

Alright, very good. Gunter was in no shape to go out there as he was wailing all around the castle. Wolfram and Conrart were not back yet from their search. Meaning, the only commander left here was him. That was so perfect! He could not even bring Yozak because Yozak was not even in Shin Makoku.

Standing up from his seat, he commanded the soldier, "Prepare my horse, I'll go there personally."

"Yes, Sir!" the soldier bowed and immediately left the room.

If only it was not because he cared so much for Yuuri, for Yuuri's unwavering love towards both human and mazoku, he might not even give mercy to those humans who dared to disrupt the peace in Shin Makoku. Nevertheless, he knew Yuuri would be really sad if he found out that some humans were just killed without being given a second chance. So just for Yuuri, he would try to be patient.

Gwendal reached the wrecked area with a few of his personal guards. The reported number of the rebels was less than twenty, thus a few soldiers should be enough to handle them without causing much commotion. What Gwendal failed to take into account was that right at that moment, his body started to go against his wish.

Dismounting from his horse, Gwendal found that the world was starting to spin. Gwendal grimaced, 'Right, am I going to lose to a few weak humans in my own territory?'

He rubbed his temple for a moment and unsheathed his sword, commanding his soldiers to seize the rebels without killing them.

All of a sudden, another group of thirty humans appeared from the forest nearby, readying themselves to attack Shin Makoku's army.

"Darn it!" Gwendal cursed to himself as his luck seemed like running out.

They started fighting and Gwendal was outnumbered. Though the humans were weak, their larger number proved to cause difficulties to Gwendal and his soldiers. Moreover, they could immediately tell that Gwendal, the commander, was not feeling well from his less deadly movements.

The humans managed to scatter the soldiers, drawing Gwendal furthest from the rest and making him up against five men. They knew the most dangerous one there was Gwendal. Once this one was taken care of, the rest should not be a problem. In fact, even in his weakened state, Gwendal was still able to knock down most of the rebels.

The enemy surrounded Gwendal and just as he was about to launch an attack on them, a sharp pain pounded his head and he fell on his knees.

Looking up at the humans raising their swords above his head, he just thought, 'Is this my end?'

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><p>Another update here!<p>

Next week's gonna be busy for me. So I'll try to write as much as possible while I can.

Thanks for _jayfeather63_ (Why do we have such similar liking? I totally agree with what you said. Haha...) and _xanderoxx_ (who's silently supporting me ;p)!

Again, please drop a review if you like this story! Thanks and see ya!


	4. An Encounter

**Disclaimer: **Kyou Kara Maou is owned by me ... NOT

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_An Encounter_

The sun was going down further into the horizon, casting a beautiful gradient of colours into the sky. Yet, Leroy was feeling uneasy. He glanced around to find that nothing has gone out of place. He continued to walk towards his hut which the villagers had been so kindly gave it to him for free. It was very small, but decent enough for him. Despite feeling more tired today and wanted to rest as soon as possible, Leroy found such a strong urge to travel a little bit further from his hut.

'I guess there's nothing wrong with checking the surrounding area,' Leroy decided, 'I can't sleep with such anxiety anyway.'

Diverting his way from his hut in front, he walked to wherever his feet brought him to. After some distance, he began to notice some noise ahead of him. What was that? It sounded so familiar to him, yet he could not tell what made such clangour.

Running a little, he could see some people standing and running, each holding a weapon in their hands.

'This is bad! They're fighting!' Leroy panicked as he saw daggers aimed at other people, swords clanging to another, and worse still; a man was being cornered by a group of people. Such unfair trick to win a fight!

Leroy was pondering of what he should do – either leave the area and tell the villagers to help or help the side under pressure himself; both were not a very good option – when suddenly he saw the man with a long dark grey hair dropped to the ground as the group surrounding him was going to attack the man.

Horror filled Leroy's eyes, he could not bear to witness someone cracked the man's skull open, killing the man. Without thinking, he dashed forward.

"NO!" Leroy yelled so loud that the attackers were surprisingly thrown away with an unseen force.

Leroy was standing in front of the man, his whole body trembling that he was surprised he could still stand straight. He was scared. Really scared. Never in his life was he involved in dangerous fight head-on. However, he could not just stand there and ignore an endangered life in front of him.

Gwendal looked at the small back of a young boy in front of him, protecting him from what he thought would be his end.

"S-stop it! I-I w-wouldn't let you h-hurt him!" Leroy stuttered, stretching his arms to shield the man behind him.

"Heh... What can a small boy like you do?" one man challenged Leroy, knowing fully that Leroy was no trained soldier.

Wasting no more time, one of the attackers rushed towards Leroy, aiming his sword at Leroy.

Leroy was too stunned to dodge the sword, but a pair of strong arms wrapped around him and swiftly moved his body from the sword's course.

For a second, Leroy was unable to interpret what just happened. He then realised the man he protected had actually helped him back.

"T-thank you," Leroy muttered.

"This isn't a time to be thanking me," Gwendal said gruffly. Why in the world was this reckless inexperienced boy so similar to someone?

"You should escape..." Gwendal's voice trailed as his migraine intensified, "Ugh..."

"A-are you okay?" Leroy kneeled in front of the pained Gwendal.

"Watch out!" Gwendal shouted as he again manoeuvred Leroy's body to safety.

"Ah! S-sorry! I'm sorry!" Leroy just apologised as his presence seemed to make things harder for Gwendal.

"You should know better to never ignore your enemies or leave your back to them," another attacker mocked at Leroy.

Darting a glance at Gwendal, Leroy knew Gwendal was in no condition to fight. Moreover, moving Leroy around seemed to worsen whatever pain in his head. There was only one course of action that Leroy could take: fight the attackers!

Getting to his feet slowly, Leroy took a fallen sword nearby. He was sure he had never touched a sword before, but the moment he grabbed the hilt of the sword, there was a familiar sense to it.

"Oi, what are you going to..." Gwendal asked Leroy as he somehow got into a ready stance to fight.

With few men already coming to him, Leroy answered with a determined voice he did not know how he managed to muster such courage, "I will protect you."

Leroy fought solely based on his instinct. He did not remember learning the art of swordsmanship. He just jumped around to dodge and tried to land some blows on the attackers.

As much as Gwendal was grateful for the boy, he became more aware that the boy was really rash in his actions. If Gwendal wanted to be harsh, he would say the boy was foolish. For Shinou's sake, that boy was holding the sword with the blade facing him! Was he trying to get himself killed? However, this was not a sparring match. Gwendal could not just shout and tell the boy of his mistake because breaking his concentration might cost his life. Well, Gwendal thought it should be okay for now because the boy seemed to be able to avoid injuring himself with his own sword.

"Why are you doing this?!" Leroy demanded in between short pants, he was getting more and more exhausted.

"Heh, why should we tell you, weakling?" a man snickered while continued to attack Leroy.

"This is wrong! You shouldn't just fight and kill someone!" Leroy avoided a slash and swiped his sword in turn. He had never fought before and once he fought, he was against five men.

"What do you know about us?" another man came, aiming his dagger at Leroy's arm and successfully wounding Leroy.

"Arhh..." Leroy stared at the stinging cut on his arms. He shuddered at how such a small cut could let so much blood flow in an instant, but he could not stop now.

"I don't know anything about you... but you should never take someone's life for granted!" Leroy plunged at two men, attempting to knock them down.

Gwendal could not move from his spot. It was such a shame for a commander to be protected by a commoner like Leroy, but he really could not afford to move anymore with the pain he had to endure.

The fight went on for quite long, unexpectedly leaving Leroy still standing – albeit unsteady and breathing with loud gasps – with two attackers knocked down. It was then a voice brought relief to Gwendal.

"Gwendal!"

"Aniue!"

Conrart and Wolfram galloped side by side, coming to their brother's rescue.

Conrart skilfully dismounted from a full-speed horse, landing beside his kneeling brother.

"Are you alright? I've heard everything. It must be hard with Anissina."

"Ah," Gwendal just nodded slightly, "More importantly," he pointed towards Leroy.

"He... saved you?"

"Just help him! He's cornered already!" Gwendal said, sensing the boy could collapse any moment now.

"All ye spirits affiliated with flame obey this distinguished mazoku who hath slain the Soushu!" Wolfram cast his fireballs at the three thugs surrounding the helpless boy.

"W-what?" the three men were shocked at the sudden coming of fire at them, "Aaaaahh!"

The fireballs burned their clothes and the heat made them dropped their weapons.

Strangely, the boy was also screaming as he put one hand on his head and another over his chest.

"Wolfram," Conrart faced the blond prince, enquiring for the meaning of the scene before his eyes.

"I didn't attack him. I don't know what hurt him," Wolfram replied, rather confused himself.

Leroy felt as if his body was being burned alive. He could see the fire was nowhere near him, but the pain seared across his whole body. Soon, his world faded into darkness and he could feel himself dropping to the soft grass beneath him.

After the situation was settled, with some people fleeing away or get arrested, the three siblings now stared at the wounded boy lying in front of them.

"What should we do with him?" Wolfram asked, knowing that the boy was a human.

"Bring him back to the castle. Give him a proper treatment for his wounds," Gwendal responded short.

Conrart was eyeing the boy carefully. Leroy's unconscious face reminded him of his missing Yuuri. Secretly in his heart, he wished that Yuuri would be safe wherever he was. He could not bear seeing Yuuri hurt anymore.

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><p>Pretty fast for a chapter!<p>

I feel so excited myself to write this story! Share your thoughts by reviewing too!


	5. Reminiscence

**Disclaimer: **In my dream, I own Kyou Kara Maou... In my dream...

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Reminiscence_

'Such a warm and soft feeling... Was my bed this fluffy?' Leroy tried to guess the comfortable touch on his back.

Upon hearing a soft grunt from one of the few patients, the green-haired healer came to his side immediately, expecting him to wake up shortly. True enough, clear bluish-green eyes met hers and she smiled.

"Ah, you're awake. That's really good!" Gisella greeted still dazed boy.

"Uh... You are...?"

"I'm Gisella von Christ. I worked here in Blood Pledge Castle as a physician. Are you feeling better?" Gisella assisted the boy to sit properly and fixed some pillows behind his back for support.

"Y-yes... Thank you... very much," Leroy said shyly. He was never good at interacting with strangers and he could only be himself with Stanley.

"Say, what's your name?" Gisella asked again to break some awkwardness the boy felt.

"Leroy."

"Okay, Leroy, I think it's best for you to stay here for another day. You were not injured that badly, but your physical condition is not well yet. So I'd like to monitor you until you recovered for real."

"O-okay..."

"Would you like something to eat?"

"No, it's fine."

"Where do you live?"

"Near... the west border."

"With your family?"

"N-no."

"Here's a tea if you feel uncomfortable and just call me if you need something. I'll be over there tending other patients," Gisella smiled as she moved fast to the other side of the room where another patient called for her.

"Thank you," the boy just looked down at his cup of tea.

'Such a cute boy,' Gisella thought. If he was not a patient, Gisella might get irritated in no time with his one-liner answers. Even so, Gisella understood that the boy meant no harm to her. He was just a shy young boy.

"Ano..." Leroy mumbled when he saw Gisella finished helping other patients.

"Yes? What is it?" she walked over to Leroy.

"Umm the man... with green uniform... long hair... Is-is he okay?" Leroy stammered.

"Oh you mean Gwendal? Yes, he's perfectly fine now. Just needs a little bit of rest before he's back to normal," Gisella answered with her smile never leaving her face.

Leroy thought Gisella reminded him of someone, though he could not tell who it was.

Somebody knocked the door and a fine man in brown uniform appeared.

"Conrart! He's just awoken few minutes ago," Gisella turned to let the man get a view of Leroy.

"Thank you, Gisella," Conrart took a seat beside Leroy, Gisella left to give them some space.

"I'm Conrart Weller. Thank you so much for helping my brother. He's still resting now, so I come in his stead," Conrart started with his gentle smile.

'Woah...' for a moment, Leroy was amazed at his bright smile, 'Like a father...' then again, Leroy had no memory of his father to begin with.

"I'm Leroy," he spoke in a volume barely louder that a whisper.

For a moment, it was so awkward again for Leroy. He could sense Conrart was like boring into him, taking note of every single delicate feature of his.

"Umm... actually... I feel uncomfortable staying here," Leroy confessed to Conrart as he felt something weird grew intense in his chest.

It was a short yet a powerful line which managed to attract the attention of both the healer and the brown-haired soldier.

Realising the implication of his words, the boy faltered, "Ah, I mean... I mean the place is really nice... and you have treated me very well... Oh and the tea was also nice... b-but... ah..."

Conrart chuckled at the self-panicky boy, "It's okay. We know you didn't mean anything bad. So just tell me what's wrong?"

"Ah..." Leroy could feel the warmth creeping up his cheeks. He had just embarrassed himself in front of strangers, he wanted to dig a deep hole and bury himself in it.

"Don't mind. Just say it," Conrart encouraged the boy. If he were an animal, Gwendal would probably hug him and run away with him. He was so cute.

"Uh... there is this weird feeling in my chest, but I know it's not because of any injuries. I-I just think I would get better if I leave the castle..."

"Really?" Conrart asked Leroy for confirmation.

"Hang in there for a while. Let me check up on you," Gisella commented as she used her maryoku on a patient.

Seeing the green glow, Leroy suddenly felt very sick and he braced himself. Conrart grew concerned for Leroy and he motioned to Gisella to come over fast.

"How are you feeling?" Gisella kneeled beside the shuddering Leroy.

"It's... It's really weird..." Leroy did not even open his tightly shut eyes.

Gisella was about to use her maryoku when suddenly Leroy burst out, begging, "No! Please... please stop that!"

Gisella was confused. What did she do? She was just going to examine him like how she would usually do.

"Please..." Leroy coughed something to his hand.

To Conrart's and Gisella's horror, it was a crimson fluid none other than blood.

"T-that green... glow..." Leroy croaked as he coughed even more.

"Gisella!" Conrart was really worried for Leroy now. It was so unusual for human to have a harsh reaction near maryoku, just like how a full-blooded demon would have when they were near a strong houseki. This was worse though, because Conrart had never seen any demon coughed blood in the presence of a small houseki, not to mention it was only for a brief moment.

"Here, please inhale this," Gisella handed a mixture of herbs to Leroy.

Leroy shakily took the small phial and breathed slowly, suppressing more coughs from coming out. He was also frightened the moment he saw his own blood.

After Leroy's fit ceased, Gisella gave him a warm damp towel to clean his mouth and hands.

"T-thank you... I'm sorry... for this," Leroy looked at the mess in front of him. His clean white blanket was flecked with red dots.

"It's okay. Don't mind that. More importantly, just rest for now," Conrart assured the boy.

"N-no..." Leroy muffled; pain in his chest as he had coughed harshly.

"I need to leave," Leroy pushed his blanket aside, getting down from the bed to stand up as his knees gave way.

"I insist that you rest here a bit more," Conrart caught him in an instant.

"We could prepare a separate room for you so that you won't get in contact with maryoku. Just rest here first. It would do you no good if you collapse on your way home," Conrart persuaded Leroy. He did not have the heart to let this weakened saviour of his brother be alone.

"Please, will you? Let us do something to repay your help," Conrart said again, guiding Leroy to sit back on his bed.

"O-okay..." Leroy finally agreed. The people here had done so much for him. He should not bother them even more by resisting their kindness. The more he disagreed, the more offers they would make, the more trouble he would give. So for now, let's just follow what they wanted.

As they waited for another room to be prepared for Leroy, Conrart figured out a possible reason for Leroy's reluctance to stay in the castle.

"I suppose, you don't feel comfortable staying around mazokus, do you?" Conrart guessed.

Leroy was surprised at his remark, "No, it's not like that. Why would you say so?"

"You're a human and it's not unusual for human to dislike mazoku."

"That's ridiculous," for the first time, a strong word came from Leroy's mouth, "What's the difference between human and mazoku anyway? We're the same living being and nobody should hate another's existence. We'll never know when we'll need other's help."

"I love both human, mazoku, and even those people called half-breed. They're all living being who deserved love and compassion. It was just my own perception that I felt rather unwell here. No relation to what you said at all."

"Oh..." Conrart responded with a relieved smile, "I'm glad to hear that."

A maid came into the room, telling them that Leroy's room was ready. Conrart led the way to Leroy's room and left him to rest afterwards.

Closing the door, Conrart saw Gisella coming on his way.

"He's so similar to Heika, isn't he?" Gisella mused.

"Yeah. He would make a good friend for Yuuri," Conrart nodded.

"It's been weeks. I realise I miss him a lot."

"I think the whole castle feel the same as you. Let's just hope that he is safe somewhere in this world."

"Yes, I hope so."

Together they walked down the corridor, remembering a certain Maou who had done so much for them. Undoubtedly, a short interaction with Leroy made them recall about Yuuri, about his passion in uniting the world. The moment Leroy talked about his belief, his eyes lighted up, sparkling with a strong determination, like Yuuri's eyes. They wished that maybe one day Yuuri could meet up with Leroy and share their vision for the world. Together, there would be more things they could do.

* * *

><p>I can't believe I finished this so fast! Double release for all my readers!<p>

As promised, I've tried to write as much as possible. After this chapter, expect the next update in about two weeks. I'm so sorry for the long delay, but yeah, can't help it. :(

See you next time! :)


	6. A Plan

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kyou Kara Maou even if I want to.

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_A Plan_

"Ah, there it is. My hut is just over there," Leroy peered out of the carriage window, his indigo hair blown by the gentle wind, "Thanks a lot for your help, Sir Weller. I think I can just walk from here."

"Sure. Oh since it's already quite near, we might as well drop you there," Conrart who was sitting across him smiled.

"It's okay, really. I don't want to bother you anymore. Besides, an exclusive carriage like this might attract too much attention," Leroy reasoned with Conrart.

"Well, I'm sure the villagers recognise this carriage is from the palace. So it shouldn't be a problem. They would know that I'm just sending you home."

'Precisely that's the problem. They might question what I'd done until an elite commander had to send me home...' Leroy mentally sighed, deciding to give in to the soldier's will. After several times losing to the silver-tongued man, it was a wise decision to save energy and obey him. More importantly, Leroy had come to trust Conrart having no ill will.

Approaching his hut, Leroy saw some people standing in front of it, seemingly waiting for him. As soon as the carriage stopped, he nodded to Conrart and came out.

"Leroy! There you are! I was so worried for you. You didn't come for work, so I thought something might have happened to you," one woman got to his side in an instant.

"Huh? What's with the bandage? Are you hurt?" another woman came.

"Oh my, what happened to you? Poor boy," the third woman cooed Leroy, patting his back softly.

"Eh? You came with a carriage? Isn't that like a royal carriage?" apparently even the men were curious of what happened to Leroy.

"Waah, Leroy got a chance to ride in a carriage! Awesome!" now even the kids were there, eyes glittering with excitement.

"Ne ne, I want to ride it too!" a girl with ponytail tugged at Leroy's shirt.

Leroy was overwhelmed by the villagers bombarding him with questions and not giving him a chance to answer. Even though he was happy that they cared so much for him, he did not feel so comfortable being the centre of attention. Again, he mentally sighed, 'Now do you see the problem I meant just now?' glancing at Conrart who just stepped down from the carriage.

Conrart met his gaze and just smiled at him. Leroy did not know whether Conrart got his message or was just happy that so many people visited him.

Noticing Conrart's presence, the villagers moved one by one to him. Commenting at how handsome he was, saying how they admired him, enquiring about what made him come to the village – since the village was not a prominent one, just a village with humans and half-bloods – and even asking unrelated questions such as how many swords he had. Leroy pulled a smile on his face, enjoying the view of Conrart's turn to have intensive interview.

"Leroy!"

"Oh Stanley!" Leroy looked at his friend emerging from his hut.

"Where-" Stanley did not finish his sentence as he noticed bandages on Leroy and he immediately took Leroy's bandaged hand, "What happened to you?"

Seeing his friend's worry, Leroy replied, "Oh it's nothing. I just got scratched a bit."

"You call injuries requiring bandages scratches? What in the world did you do? Do you know how worried am I?" Stanley's voice rose with concern.

"I-I'm sorry..." Leroy flinched; he knew Stanley would be upset at him for leaving without any notice.

"Don't apologise! You should know how to take a better care of yourself!" Stanley reprimanded his friend who was prone to getting himself into troubles.

"And why is this man here?" Stanley referred to Conrart who had somehow managed to break free from the crowd surrounding him.

"Ah, this is Sir Conrart Weller, a commander of Shin Makoku's army. He's been helping me," Leroy introduced Conrart, doing the same for Stanley, "Sir Weller, this is my good friend Stanley."

"Nice to meet you," Conrart smiled at Stanley.

Stanley just retorted with an uninterested face, "I already know him."

"Stanley!" Leroy was clearly not pleased with how his friend treated Conrart. Conrart had been so nice; it was so embarrassing to have Stanley despise him right away.

"If there's nothing else, let's go in before you catch cold. It's a bit windy today. You better rest now," Stanley walked into the hut without sparing Leroy and Conrart a second glance.

"I'm very sorry, Sir Weller. He didn't mean any harm," Leroy bowed deeply before following Stanley inside, "Please excuse me."

"It's okay. I understand," Conrart reassured the boy, recalling about someone in the castle who was hiding his care by being silent and stern. Surely, Leroy must mean a lot for Stanley, for him to be so protective of Leroy.

Conrart stayed around for a while. He was checking on the villagers, whether they need any assistance from the castle or if they wish to have their opinions to be heard.

As both Leroy and Stanley watched Conrart interacting so freely with the villagers, Leroy thought that maybe Conrart would be able to touch Stanley's cold heart that was filled with hatred for those in power. For sure, Leroy could not put himself in Stanley's shoes because he did not feel the discrimination the half-blood had experienced. Yet, he heard that Conrart, a half-blood as well, was able to overcome those prejudice. So maybe, maybe Conrart could save Stanley.

"He's a nice man, isn't he?" Leroy asked Stanley, referring to Conrart who was currently playing with some children.

"Huh? That's should be expected, right?" Stanley said as he put two cups of tea on the table and took a seat across Leroy.

'By right, I'm the host; but he's the one serving me drinks...' Leroy thought.

"Sir Weller is also a half mazoku half human, you know. I think it's really great that he is acknowledged by both mazoku and human. On top of that, he doesn't seem to have... umm... strong dislike to either race," Leroy continued.

"Heh... That's likely because he's the son of the previous Maou. Someone surely brainwashed him until he became so submissive towards the unfair treatments he received."

"You think so? Why? I don't think he is just being submissive," Leroy was sad that Stanley was as hard as a diamond for this matter. No matter what Leroy said to him, he still held on to his belief that there was no way human and mazoku would accept one another.

"In the past, Sir Weller had to prove the innocence of both him and fellow half-blood by fighting a suicidal war. Do you think he wasn't brainwashed back then? For the world's sake, he was a top student in the military academy. I'm sure he's not stupid enough to go for a sure loss war," Stanley explained.

"But he won the battle, right?" remarked Leroy.

"Yeah, with so many lives sacrificed. Yet, he could still accept everything willingly," Stanley added on.

"Stanley," Leroy called his friend who looked like he was drowned further by his own view, "Don't you think that hope does exist in this world? Can't you see that hope brings about change in life? I'm sure Sir Weller wasn't brainwashed. I believe he did not go to that war to die, but he fought carrying his hope for the future generation."

"And what change has happened?" Stanley challenged Leroy, "I've seen nothing, Leroy. Not one ever since I was born in the Nameless Village."

"You're way too positive, Leroy. Too kind and naive to understand the real hardships in life," Stanley stood up, taking the now empty cups to wash them.

'Ah, I'm the owner of the house and he's the one washing the cups...' Leroy thought again, 'Maybe this is the reason Stanley considered me so helpless, I couldn't take action fast enough.'

"Ja, I shall leave you to rest. No more depressing talk, okay?" Stanley slipped a smile as he turned around to face Leroy, "You always have that solemn face whenever we talk about this kind of thing. I don't want to make you sad by having such conversation."

"Uh, I'm sorry," Leroy gave Stanley a wan smile, muttering, 'It's not the talk that makes me sad; it's your heart.'

Before Stanley left, he looked back once again, saying, "Oh, I'll do your share of work for today and the next two days. So you just rest, okay? I don't want to see you walking around the village."

"Yes, Mummy," Leroy answered plainly as he climbed his bed. Stanley was getting into his over-protective mode.

"Hey, I'm serious!"

"Yes, yes, I'm going to sleep now."

"Okay, good boy," Stanley grinned in satisfaction and left. He considered Leroy as an important person for him because Leroy was the only one who can understand and accept him fully, though Leroy did try to change some of his mindsets.

The moment Stanley stepped out of the hut, the upward curve on his lips faded, replaced by a deep frown. He was remembering those moments he hated the most in his life.

Stanley was born in the Nameless Village; a neglected village governed by neither human nor mazoku country. During his time, he suffered a hard life. Starvation was a daily bread and nobody could do anything. Geographically, the village belonged to Shin Makoku, but there did not seem to be any acknowledgement from the government.

He lived there until one day he decided to leave the village after his family was murdered by bandits. He was so upset at whoever was in power at that time because they did not do anything to help. After days of depression, he decided to travel around the world to find a way to raise the status of half-blood like him. He refused to believe in equality, but instead he wanted half-blood to achieve higher status than pure-blood.

Stanley was ready to do whatever it took to achieve his goal. He believed that all those who had power, had always been abusing them. He believed that all chaos was caused by the higher-ups. Commoners were always the victim, thus it was time for him to change that.

Yes, he would change that for sure! He would protect fellow half-blood with his life!

* * *

><p>In the darkness, it was so suffocating. He felt like he was floating in an empty space. Yet somehow the air was so thin and his body seemed to be compressed forcefully. He could not move although his limbs were not numb. All he could do was to lie there in the nothingness.<p>

He wanted to speak, to call out for someone who could help him, but no voice came out. The only thing escaping his throat was a low gagged sound which he was sure nobody would be able to hear it. Not only that, he now realised that he did not know who to call.

Everything seemed blank. There was nothing. He only had consciousness, no more than that.

'Where am I? What happened?' drowsiness started to engulf him again.

'Who am I..?'

* * *

><p>"Yo, Leroy!" a loud and cheery voice started a new day for Leroy.<p>

"Umhh..." Leroy shifted slightly on his bed and curled deeper into his warm blanket.

"Wake up!" the characteristic voice of his friend became even louder as he approached Leroy.

"Five... more minutes..." Leroy mumbled. He was never a morning person and since Stanley said he did not need to work, he thought he could indulge himself with few more hours of sleep.

"I don't care! You've got to wake up now! You need to eat!" Stanley was getting impatient. For a second he considered jumping onto Leroy to shock him, but the moment he remembered Leroy's wounds and frailty, he dismissed the idea. He had better things to do than crushing his friend's bones.

"..." no response from Leroy.

'Okay, you're really testing me, huh?' Stanley thought mischievously, hands on his waist as he smirked at Leroy.

Slowly creeping and guessing where Leroy's sides might be, he feigned a snarl, "I'm telling you... WAKE. UP," and there he went tickling his friend.

"Aaahh!" Leroy screamed, desperately struggling to get out of Stanley's firm grip, "Stop, stop!"

"Alright! I wake up now! Alright!" Leroy threw his blanket, trying to catch his breath in between gales of laughter.

Satisfied that there was no way Leroy would go back to sleep, Stanley released his hands and walked to the dinette.

"Seriously... Can't you be gentler?" Leroy complained as he arranged his bed.

"Nah, in this case I can't. That's the only way to wake you up," Stanley remarked, already preparing some food for Leroy.

"Here, now eat. I don't have much time before I need to go to work," Stanley put a plate of sandwich in front of Leroy.

'Woah... certainly, Stanley's survival skill is unrivalled. I think I might end up eating plain breads today if he didn't come,' Leroy was admiring his appetising food.

"I'm telling you..." Stanley began again, snapping Leroy out of his thoughts.

"Yes, Mother, I'm eating!" Leroy took a slice of sandwich and ate it quickly, ending up choking.

Leroy was coughing, hands desperately rambling to find his glass of water.

"Here," Stanley handed him his glass and he gulped the water in seconds.

"Geez... you're so helpless..." Stanley commented, taking his last piece of sandwich.

"Ahaha..." Leroy just scratched the back of his head and laughed shamefacedly.

After they finished eating, Stanley left for his work and Leroy's work. Leroy could not be more grateful for such a nice friend he had. Though Stanley was often too temperamental, Leroy was sure that Stanley never bore grudge against him. He knew Stanley cared so much for him to the extent of being over-protective.

The next day had gone in about the same way as today. Stanley would come in the morning to have breakfast together and then came back for lunch and dinner. Mostly, it was Stanley bringing or preparing the food because Leroy was no good in the kitchen. However, for the next day's dinner, Leroy decided that it was his turn to prepare the food.

"Hmm... not bad. Your cooking has improved. A bit," Stanley told Leroy who was washing the dishes.

"Hmph..." Leroy pouted, showing he was unhappy about the last part of Stanley's words.

"I'm just kidding," Stanley put his arm across Leroy's shoulder, knocking Leroy's head lightly.

"So tomorrow I'll start working again. Thanks, Stan," Leroy wiped his wet hands.

"You sure, you're okay already? I don't mind doing your job again tomorrow since it isn't so much," Stanley gave Leroy an appraising look.

"Yep, I'm really fine now. Besides, it's so boring doing nothing here," Leroy replied with confidence.

"Okay then," Stanley smiled; this one friend of his was never good at staying still.

"By the way," Stanley's tone was getting more serious, "I have a plan. I'm thinking of going to Blood Pledge Castle."

"Eh? What for?" Leroy did not expect this.

"I want to check on the Maou."

"Huh? Why?"

"I still can't believe that he is such a nice person. I need to see him myself and talk to him. If necessary, I will even challenge him to prove to me that he is doing something for people like me. If he's indeed that kind, he will surely listen to me and raise the status of half-blood. After all, isn't the Maou's words a law to the country? There's soldier recruitment going on and I think this is the right opportunity."

"You shouldn't do that..." Leroy softly rejected his friend's idea. He knew Stanley wanted to make a change, but he did not think it was the right way to take advantage of someone's kindness. Forcing the Maou to do this was no different than abusing his power. However, Stanley was too deep in his ambitions.

"Why shouldn't I? Do you think there's any other way?"

Leroy could not answer Stanley. He just bowed his head, not wanting to meet Stanley's hard gaze.

"Well, I'm going tomorrow. I'll make sure to come here once everything is settled. So take care until that time, Leroy," Stanley ended their conversation, patting Leroy's shoulder gently before walking out of the hut.

'I wish... someone could soften your heart,' was all Leroy could hope while watching Stanley's back disappear into the night.

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><p>Hello! I'm back! Still quite busy, but will be able to write bit by bit!<p>

_Jayfeather63_: Hello! Thanks for sparing a time to read and review my story! Hehe... Really happy for that. :D All the best for everything you're doing now! :)

For my readers who have been waiting for Yuuri's appearance, he will appear in a few chapters ahead because now I need to write some background for Leroy and Stanley first. But don't worry! This story is still centred on Yuuri! Just that it takes some time before he appears! Hope you can bear with me!

Ja ne! ;)


	7. Infiltration

**Disclaimer: **Kyou Kara Maou? No own...

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Infiltration_

Leroy awoke feeling a little dazed. He felt like he had forgotten something important. Was it in his dream? He could not recall his dream as soon as he returned to the world of consciousness. This has happened for some time, but he was still unable to figure out what it was that he missed.

Today Stanley would be going to the castle to begin whatever plan he has to confront the Maou. Leroy did not feel that it was right. Yet, he had no better suggestion to make Stanley abort his plan. That left Leroy only to support Stanley in silence, while wishing that no harm would ever be done.

Well, enough of all these thoughts, time to get up and...

"Good morning," a familiar husky voice alerted Leroy to look at the door.

"Excuse me for coming so early," Conrart smiled as he took a step into the hut, "Seems like you just woke up."

"Ah, Sir Weller! Pardon all this messiness," Leroy got up from his bed and in a light-speed, tidied his bed up, washed his face, and made tea for the two of them.

'Phew! Achievement for me, I did not spill anything,' Leroy mused.

Leroy and Conrart sat across each other in the small dinette in Leroy's hut, just like the night before when Leroy sat with Stanley. Without realising it, Leroy had fallen into another daydream state. He stared at nowhere and stayed motionless like a stone. Conrart remained quiet knowingly, waiting until Leroy would finally say what was on his mind.

Deciding that the 'stoning' competition should end, Conrart finally spoke up, "I just want to know how you're doing."

Leroy immediately looked up, as if he just realised that there was another person there with him.

"When you left the castle, you were not that well yet. So I want to check if you're already fine."

"Ah yes, I'm fine now. Thank you so much for your concern," Leroy flashed his signature cheerful smile.

"That's good then, you..." Conrart's voice trailed as he found out the boy had become a stone again within seconds.

"Is something bothering you?" Conrart asked Leroy, snapping him out of whatever spell cast on him.

For a moment, Leroy was contemplating whether he should tell Conrart about Stanley. He was really worried for Stanley, but he knew if Stanley found out that he had told Conrart to help Stanley, surely Stanley would be upset. However, he also believed that Conrart was of a discreet soul. He knew somehow he could always trust Conrart.

"Ermm... Do you remember my friend... who was rather..." Leroy's voice diminished as more words flowed out of his mouth, "rude... at you?"

"Oh you mean Stanley? Yes, I do," Conrart answered gently, emphasising the point that he was not offended at all at that time.

"He-he is going to the castle today," Leroy continued, uncertainty obvious in his speech.

"Oh is he? For the soldier recruitment?" Conrart guessed, to which Leroy nodded weakly.

"So is there anything you would like me to help you with? You're worried for him, aren't you?" Conrart's guesses always hit the mark and again Leroy nodded, facing down on his lap.

"It's okay, there's nothing dangerous for new soldiers. He wouldn't be assigned for mission until we are sure that he is prepared. We would take a good care of every single soldier in the castle," Conrart assured the boy.

"That's not it... I mean I know you would take a good care of him just like you took care of me. But what I'm worried about is... him..."

"You're afraid that he would do something rash?"

"Uh, something like that... He doesn't really like mazoku, especially those with power."

"Alright, I understand," Conrart patted Leroy's shoulder softly, "I will watch over him."

"Thank you," Leroy muttered, feeling relieved, "very much."

Conrart smiled again and took a sip of his tea, "Meanwhile, what are you planning to do today?"

"Oh I'm going back to work again," Leroy said enthusiastically. He loved working with the villagers. Even though it often left him exhausted, he thought that the time they spent together was worth of his every bit of his strength. Somehow, he wanted to spend as much time as he could with them before separation – like what happened in his past – forced him away from those he cared for.

"Then I shall take my leave now, so that you won't be late. Take care, Leroy," Conrart finished the last drop of his tea.

"I will, thank you very much, Sir Weller," Leroy stood up and went to the door with Conrart.

Before he left, Conrart made a comment, "You care so much for him."

Leroy looked at Conrart with his round eyes and smiled sweetly, "Yes, I do. He's an important friend of me and I think you would be one soon."

"Say, did we ever meet before?"

Conrart was taken aback by Leroy's last question. It was like the first time he met Yuuri, but he was pretty sure this time that he had never known a boy like Leroy before.

"No, I don't think so," Conrart replied, keeping his face straight despite the sudden reminder that he still has not found Yuuri.

"I guess it's just my feeling then," Leroy grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, "You reminded me of someone I could not recall."

"One day you'll surely remember."

"Ah yes, thank you."

"Alright, see you next time, Leroy."

"Yes, take care, Sir Weller," Leroy waved Conrart goodbye and went back inside his hut to get ready for work.

He could not believe it that he had come to trust Conrart so much so easily. Yes, he had many friends, but none of them is as close as he is to Stanley. Unbelievably, Conrart had managed to rival Stanley within few days and it was not like Leroy and Conrart always saw one another every single moment. Conrart was really an amazing man that Leroy was so attached to him, enjoying his presence and the calming atmosphere surrounding him.

'Sir Weller, I'm counting on you and Stan, don't do anything reckless...'

* * *

><p>Reaching back Blood Pledge Castle, Conrart was immediately involved in the soldier recruitment process. Well, he was one of the head commanders in the army, so it was obvious that he had to be there. From what he saw, this year there were more people applying and a large number of them had a well-toned body. He was waiting to assess those people based on their agility and basic swordsmanship.<p>

The recruitment process went rather fast for Conrart. As usual, every year for sure, most people failed at his station. Those people were either failing because they did not have the right reason for joining the army – that was to protect the country – or they simply were not trained sufficiently. Having a keen eye, Conrart made sure to allow those with potentials to get a second chance and those with selfish motive? Sent them home to have their own introspection.

Conrart knew that Shin Makoku has become a gracious country ever since Yuuri reigned. Nevertheless, for this one aspect, he could never be gracious. Recruiting soldiers, who would eventually bear the duty of protecting the King, would never be compromised with things like allowing selfish soldiers to be recruited just because they had a very polished swordsmanship. No, Conrart would make sure that the applicants were all-round before he admitted them.

Stanley was rather quick to notice. From the first time Conrart saw him, he reminded Conrart of Yozak. Stanley had a sturdy build like Yozak, which might imply that he could be stronger than Conrart himself. He was also good at wielding sword, always having that firm grip and efficient movements, even if he was not that well-trained. Conrart decided to accept him and keep an eye on him just like he promised Leroy.

Once everything was settled, the new soldiers recruited were allowed to rest in their respective quarters. Some soldiers were in their rooms, arranging their belongings, while some were seen talking to get acquainted with one another. Among all of them, Conrart could not find Stanley. Just where did he go to?

Passing the corridor towards the main office where all advisors would usually have a meeting, Conrart caught a glimpse of a familiar person. Stealthily he hid in the shadow and watched the figure creeping closer to the office door, seemingly trying to listen to the ongoing conversation inside.

If Conrart's ear was not trained, he might not notice another person with firm and fast steps approaching them from the opposite side of the corridor, just like what happened to that man who was too engaged in eavesdropping.

"Just what are you doing there?" Wolfram reprimanded the person who did not realise that he was there until he spoke.

"A-ah, Sir... I'm sorry. I-I got lost, Sir!" Stanley stuttered, caught red-handed.

"You're a new soldier, aren't you? Your quarter is that way," Wolfram pointed to the direction where he came from, "Now go and do your duty!"

"Yes, Sir!" Stanley stood straight and quickly took a step to get away from the dangerously glaring prince.

"-and don't let me catch you again..." Wolfram added quietly, voice steady and calm, but his point was made very clearly. He made note to himself to investigate more about this new soldier. He could be a spy who could potentially disrupt the safety in the castle.

Stanley resumed his steps, heart beating fast from the sudden rush of adrenaline. He was not expecting to be caught within hours he got into the castle. He mentally cursed himself for his ignorance towards his surroundings. Next time he needed to be extra cautious because he had successfully made it into the prince's blacklist.

Conrart appeared out the shadow as Wolfram entered the office. He decided not to confront Stanley right at that moment, wanting to observe more on him.

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><p>Hey hey! I ammu bakku (I am back)!<p>

I'm sorry for the looooong absence... No excuse over here. My internship has taken all my energy and time. :(

Hopefully, now that my internship has ended, I can update regularly! So yep, next chapter's coming soon!

Thanks _jayfeather63_! Here's the update! :)


	8. First-hand Experience

**Disclaimer: **One of the things I don't own: Kyou Kara Maou.

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_First-hand Experience_

"Ooh... That's Winfred, isn't he?" Gunter pointed to one of the new recruits training on the castle ground.

"Yes, that's Stanley Winfred. He is an exceptional one," Gunter's assistant flipped his booklet, finding the information about Stanley, "He's from the small village just outside the border. He has strong basic swordsmanship and above average physical strength."

"That's good. What else do we know about him?" Gunter enquired, eyes still fixated on that particular soldier.

"His weak point seems to be only on maryoku. He possessed no maryoku since he's a half-blood. Other than that, he seems to be fine."

"Hmm... perhaps you would like to train him, Conrart?" Gunter glanced to his side, where Conrart was standing quietly. Gunter noticed that there was something about Stanley that made Conrart seemed to be interested in him.

"Ah, alright," Conrart answered, "I'll see what I can do."

Both Conrart and Gunter continued to observe the soldiers. Occasionally they would walk among them and advising them on what they need to improve on. It always gave them a nostalgic feeling about the time when Conrart was still in the military academy and Gunter was his teacher. To be able to stand side by side as comrades, it was really wonderful for both of them.

As training ended, Conrart went back to his office to sort out whatever paperwork he had and to plan the next search for Yuuri. It was then a messenger came to him and requested his presence at the meeting room. He immediately went to the said room.

"There is unrest outside the border," Gwendal began, annoyance clear in his tone.

"It seems to happen quite a lot recently. Could it be that they know Yuuri is missing?" Gunter mused.

"Possible. We can't stop news from spreading once it started," Conrart supplied.

"So this is also done by humans?" Wolfram asked impatiently. He was so irritated by the fact that these people just never stop being so stubborn.

"Yes, working together with some half mazoku half human," replied Gwendal, "Conrart, please go and handle this."

"Alright, prepare my horse and tell the rest of the main unit," Conrart told his personal guard who was waiting for him just outside the door.

"Oh can I request something?" Conrart stopped in his track to go out of the room, "I would like to bring Stanley Winfred with me."

Those with no clue of who in the world Stanley Winfred was were staring questioningly at Conrart.

"Yes, you may bring him with you," Gunter approved, "Just be careful."

"I will, thank you," Conrart said to Gunter who smiled knowingly.

Conrart ordered another soldier to get Stanley and within minutes, they were all ready to depart from the castle.

For Stanley, this was his first mission. He did not expect to be called so soon and it was by a high-rank commander all the more. Stanley was slightly confused because everyone who went looked like they were Conrart's personal guards and very well-experienced. What was the use of bringing a novice like him? However, Conrart was not letting out any information. He simply treated Stanley like any other soldier.

Reaching the reported site, Stanley was rather shocked at what he saw. Yes, he had much exposure to unrest, but never in his life was he the one who was supposed to resolve the situation. Usually he was on the victimised side and there he would blame anyone who had the power to help but did not seem to help. Here he was, standing with power to help, yet feeling helpless.

He knew he had to go there and stop the fighting, just like what Conrart and his guards were doing, but he just could not move. He had never expected the scene before his eyes before. His hands trembled as he looked at humans and half-bloods – like him – attacking mazokus. All along he always thought that mazokus were the bad ones. He could not bring himself to stand on the opposite side of his fellow half-bloods.

"Winfred!" a shout returned his attention to reality, alerting him that a half-blood was going to swing a sharp dagger at him.

Stanley swiftly dodged the dagger and used his sword to hold the man's weapon, still feeling rather dazed.

"Heh, not bad. You look like an amateur, but you've got guts," the man mocked at Stanley.

Stanley was enraged by his remark, but still unable to land a blow on him. He just could not.

"Snap out of it!" Conrart fortunately stepped in between Stanley and an enemy before the enemy managed to aim his sword at Stanley's neck.

"I-I'm sorry, Sir!" Stanley stammered, yet to fully back into the real world.

"Make up your mind. This is a battle with your own life on the line," Conrart spoke with all seriousness glinting in his eyes.

If words were not enough to pull Stanley's excellent concentration back to its normal function, at least Conrart's eyes were enough to make Stanley stop pondering. He moved to help the injured mazoku instead. Helping mazoku and opposing half-bloods were both hard for Stanley. So he chose the less harmful one between the two.

Finally, Conrart's unit managed to subdue the rebels. Most of them were captured although Conrart was sure that there were still more of them in hiding. In all this, Stanley was not involved in the fighting. All he did was helping to direct the evacuation. He refused to involve himself in anything that had to do with injuring half-bloods.

Back at the castle, Conrart dismissed all his guards after they were done handling the captured rebels.

"Winfred," Conrart called Stanley, "I'd like to have a word with you. Please wait in my office."

Stanley looked back, totally unsure of what to expect and answered, "Yes, Sir."

On the way to Conrart's office, Stanley was still deep in his thought. He still could not accept that this time round, it was humans and half-bloods who were on the wrong side. No, he could not accept. How was that even possible? Mazokus were always the majority and those with power were always abusing their power. No matter how righteous they were, if the mazokus own power, they were bound to use it for their own gain.

A hand on his shoulder jerked Stanley out of his own thoughts again.

"Go inside," Conrart opened the door.

Both of them went inside and Conrart took his seat. Stanley was still being in his own world. He just stared at the ground and Conrart knew well about what was going on in his mind.

"Didn't expect it, did you?" Conrart started, all formality gone.

"Ah..." Stanley was surprised by what Conrart said.

"Take a seat, Stanley."

"Yes, Sir," Stanley just mindlessly obeyed Conrart and sat across the Commander.

"Now, would you tell me what was bothering you such that you endangered your own life on your first mission?" Conrart asked.

Stanley knew Conrart has already had the answer in his mind by the way he put the knowing gentle smile on his face. However, since Conrart had asked, Stanley might as well be honest.

"I... couldn't bring myself to fight my fellow half-blood and also humans..."

"Because you and your close friend are part of them?"

"Yes, it is," Stanley inhaled deeply, "All along I thought that we're always the weak ones and so... there's no way we could harm mazokus. But..."

"Well, you still have much to learn. I believe this is not the first time someone tells you that what you perceive is not always true, isn't it?"

Stanley straightaway recalled a certain boy with indigo hair that was never tired of trying to change his – finally he admitted – extreme mindset.

"Such cases do exist where mazokus are the victims. So the best measure could be that we should just work together instead of making one more superior than the other."

"_Well, in short, I was saying that maybe one day the Maou would be able to unite humans like me and mazokus."_

"Our Maou is a kind-hearted soul. He treats everyone regardless of their heritage fairly," Conrart's voice sounded so gentle when he spoke about the Maou. It was like they were closer that just a King and his advisor. It was like they were family.

"_I heard he made lots of breakthrough and he has this compassion for both races."_

"Do you believe that humans and mazoku could live in harmony?" Conrart asked again.

"_But I still believed in that sort of future. The Maou would surely be able to make it happen one day."_

"I don't know, Sir," because to be honest, Stanley did not believe such a caring Maou existed.

"_Don't you think that hope does exist in this world? Can't you see that hope brings about change in life?"_

Conrart decided maybe it was too much for the boy after all that has happened within such a short time. Maybe he should just continue this conversation tomorrow and show Stanley something that could change Stanley's mind.

"Alright, I think you must be exhausted. Tomorrow, report here in the morning and I'll show you something," Conrart concluded.

"Yes, Sir, thank you," with that Stanley left Conrart's office.

Conrart gazed at the soldier's back until it disappeared from his room. Stanley looked so young despite his build and actual age. Did he experience something unpleasant in his childhood such that he has extreme belief? It was normal for one race to hate another, but it seemed like there was something more than that in Stanley's case.

'Let's just see how it goes tomorrow. Yuuri, wherever you are, I believe you're watching over us and reaching out to people's hearts.'

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><p>Express update for my loyal readers! Hope this can make up for the long wait previously!<p>

After the next chapter, be prepared for something heavy...


	9. Revelation

**Disclaimer: **I wanna own Kyou Kara Maou! Well, isn't it obvious? If I want it, means I don't have it...

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Revelation_

A soothing breeze... Somehow he could feel it. Or was he hearing it? It felt so different from the void darkness he had felt before. He did not think he had opened his eyes, but he thought he saw blue and there was warmth emanated all over his body. With the warmth came the longing feeling, a deep one.

'What is this..?' he asked to no one in particular.

'Hold on...' a voice rang in his mind.

'Who are you?'

'Just hold on... a little bit more...' the voice was fading.

Just as the voice disappeared, suddenly the familiar panic washed over him. Was he going back to that scary void again? No! He did not want to return there ever again! Yet he could do nothing as the warmth was overtaken by the killing chill of nothingness.

'Help... someone please help me...'

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Sir," Stanley greeted Conrart as he entered the Commander's office.<p>

"Good morning. There you are, now let's get going," Conrart stood up from his desk and sauntered towards Stanley.

Stanley gave him a questioning look. What was Conrart going to show to him?

Conrart ignored that enquiry and motioned for Stanley to follow him.

Stanley was walking slightly behind Conrart and it has been a few minutes of walking along the corridor in silence. Stanley kept pondering about what it was in the Commander's mind.

"I suppose you've heard about the Maou missing?" Conrart asked Stanley as they passed the garden.

"Ah," Stanley was taken aback but immediately recovered, "that's the rumour I heard, Sir."

"Well, now you know it's the fact."

'Huh?' Stanley was confused. Yes, he came to the castle to find out about that, but he did not expect that somebody would easily tell him like this.

As though he read Stanley's mind, Conrart continued on, "I'm telling you to save you the trouble of doing unnecessary spy job."

'Oh damn it... He was there too at that time?' Stanley mentally scolded himself.

"Don't worry. I'm not saying anything since there wasn't really a confidential information that you heard. Let me show you something about our Maou."

"Uh... Yes, Sir. Thank you... very much," Stanley did not know what else to say. Truly, Conrart was no ordinary man. If he was to put it bluntly, Conrart was weird. However, somehow that was what made him more interested in getting to know Conrart better. Maybe, it was just like what Leroy said, that Conrart was a nice man indeed.

They were both standing near the stairs down to the garden and there they saw a small girl with the third prince kneeling near the blossoming flower bed.

"Ne, Wolfram! Look! The flowers are in full bloom now!" Greta squealed.

"Ah, yes. That's right," Wolfram replied in a lower tone. While he looked normal, someone close enough to him could see that there was a tinge of sadness in the way Wolfram spoke. Surely, he must be missing and worried about Yuuri.

"Too bad Yuuri isn't here..." now it was the princess' turn to mourn.

Wolfram quickly put his best cheering-up smile and cooed her, "It's okay! The flowers are blooming, that means Yuuri is alright! I'm sure he'll be back soon. So we must also tend these flowers and show them to Yuuri when he's back, alright!"

Greta looked up to Wolfram and smiled back, "Hmph!"

Conrart and Stanley walked again. As they passed the main kitchen where the maids were, they heard them conversing in a not-so-low whispers.

"Listen, listen! Biggggg newsssss!"

"What is it?! What is it?!"

"I know why Yuuri-heika hasn't returned yet!"

"Really? Tell us!"

"He must be caught by someone from a faraway kingdom, then he was kidnapped and forced to marry someone! That's why he can't return because he has someone there!"

"Nooooo! Heika already has Wolfram!"

"But it's still possible! You see, he has never rejected Gunter's bone-crushing hugs!"

"That's because Heika is too nice and too kind."

"But every time he spent time with Weller-kyo, he has this sparkle in his eyes! Twinkle twinkle twinkle! He must have a feeling for him and blah blah blah..."

Conrart and Stanley were already far from the kitchen but somehow those words still got into their ears.

"Don't mind that..." Conrart slowly said to Stanley, whose mouth was wide agape.

'What in the world was this kingdom?! They said the Maou was really nice –unlike his predecessors– and not only that, the maids could even freely gossip about nearly everyone in the castle, including the Maou!' Stanley did not expect the worldly renowned Shin Makoku to have this kind of activities going on in its castle.

BOOM!

A loud explosion came from the way ahead. Stanley, a soldier he was, quickly got into a ready stance to face whatever enemy coming his way.

Conrart stopped walking and glanced to Stanley, "Don't mind that too..." he smiled apologetically.

"Huh?" the remark just flowed out of Stanley's mouth as he dropped his guard.

Just then there was a flash of green passing by, followed by another bright pink one.

"Gweeeeendaaaaalllll!" a dangerous confident voice echoed in the corridor, "Won't you help to find Yuuri-heika using my inventions?"

'What the...' Stanley was speechless even in his mind.

Approaching the stable, Stanley was blinded by something round that was reflecting the sunlight.

"Geez... why it's always Dacoscos..." the bald soldier pouted, brushing a black horse's hair, "I know I always tried to help people but it doesn't mean they can anyhow use Dacoscos for they own liking."

The horse, seemingly understanding Dacoscos' complains nuzzled its nose to Dacoscos.

"Aah! Ao! You understand me?! Good horse! You have a kind heart just like your master, Yuuri-heika!"

When the horse did not stop nuzzling his head and instead started act as if it was going to eat his head, Dacoscos realised something, "Aaaaahhhhh! This must be because of Lady Anissina's shampoo! She said my hair would grow in no time, but look! My head gets shinier and..."

Before he could finish Ao bit his head, "Waaahhh! Ao, stop it! No, you're not Heika's horse! Heika won't bite me!"

And there went another episode of Ao chasing Dacoscos, which always ended with the former victorious over the latter.

Next to the stable, there was a suspicious white lump in a corner. As Conrart and Stanley strolled, they could hear whispers...

"Oh poor beautiful blue princess... You must have suffered scorching heat in this dessert. The fact that you survived is surely a sign of bright future ahead."

'Hell, that white bundle speaks to flowers?' Stanley was starting to get paranoid over Blood Pledge Castle. Too much hilarity. Too much unusual weird things here...

The white bundle stood up, revealing smooth lavender hair draping over it. 'It' is actually a man.

"Heikaaa!" Gunter exclaimed dramatically, lifting one hand up and another over his chest, "Where are youuuuu? I, Gunter von Christ, have been waiting for you forever. Is this your trial? I will overcome this, Heika. I will wait for you until the end of time. Oh Heika... Heikaaa..."

'WHAT. THE. HELL. Isn't it Lord von Christ? The cool swordsman overseeing the new soldiers' training? Is he the same person?' Stanley was going to slap himself to wake him up from this horrible dream. This was not supposed to exist. It was too different from his imagination of a kingdom.

"You shouldn't mind about that," Conrart noticed Stanley's dazed state, "too..."

"Alright..." Stanley nodded slowly, following Conrart wherever Conrart brought him too. Seriously, if Conrart were to jump down a cliff, Stanley could just follow him. Stanley could not think clearly with all this revelation about daily life in Blood Pledge Castle. Too much...

"There's one more thing I want you to know," Conrart turned back to Stanley.

Stanley just stared at Conrart, forgot about all the formalities he was supposed have when interacting with a commander.

A whistle and a taller man with dazzling orange hair appeared behind Conrart.

"Yo! Nice to meet you!" Yozak waved his hand to the still frozen Stanley.

Maybe it was the rarity of people with orange hair who Stanley met, that he immediately remembered one person from his time in the Nameless Village.

"You... Did you once live in the Nameless Village?" curiosity won over dumbstruck state.

"Yep!" Yozak grinned widely, "Did you?"

"Ah, me too, but I left the village a long time ago."

The three men walked together to the soldier's quarter and decided to have lunch together as it was already noon. They sat on the same table and talked about many things.

Stanley was pleased when Yozak did remember his family and that there was a proper graveyard for them now. After the time when Gwendal along with Dunheely eliminated the bandits, that village had undergone major development. It was a better place now with abundant supply of food and excellent safety.

"Maybe you should go for a visit there one day," Yozak said to the boy.

"I will," Stanley smiled his first genuine smile ever since he reached the castle, "After all this is done."

"Yeah, we could go along with you," Yozak put his arm around Conrart's shoulder, pulling Conrart closer and winking, "That is if Weller-kyo here managed to get away from the ever loving Bocchan."

"Yozak," Conrart glared at his best friend.

"Ooh, scary..." Yozak moved away in mock fear, "What? What is it that I heard? Every time Heika spent time with Weller-kyo, he has this sparkle in his eyes? Twinkle twinkle twinkle!"

Conrart's glare was getting sharper than any needles and swords could ever be.

Stanley was too amused to comment. Only Yozak was able to pull such a stunt to Conrart. They looked so relaxed with one another. It did not seem like they were comrades in war, hardened by the life-threatening battles. They looked just like small boys, ready to bicker at any moment.

Guess this was an insight that outsiders might never know. In the castle was just a normal life. Ordinary but a really pleasant one. Try as he might, Stanley had to admit that he started to believe that maybe the current Maou was a different person, one that really could bring peace. If the Maou was not of a compassionate heart, then what else could drive his subjects to have such loyalty and attachment to him?

It was just the beginning of the day for Stanley. Maybe he could start seeing things in a different light.

'Well, Leroy, I think I get what you meant...'

Little did Stanley know of what was to come on his way...

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><p>Yay! Here's the next chapter! Anybody wanna review? Hehe...<p>

The story is about to be heated up starting from the next chapter!


	10. Loss

**Disclaimer: **Can I not repeat the sad truth that I don't own Kyou Kara Maou?

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Loss_

Hot... There was so much heat and noise...

"Ugh..." Leroy woke up in the middle of the night with a very bad throbbing in his head.

Clutching his head at the spot where the pain concentrated, he glanced outside his window. Had it ever been this hot? He felt uneasy and faintly he could make out noises from afar. Was there something bad going on?

The needles prickling on his head was not helping him at all. Leroy did not dare to sit up yet. The effect of moving his head alone was strong enough to make him nauseous. How bad would it be if he suddenly sit up and walk?

"Leroy..." a small voice called out for him.

In the darkness, Leroy squinted his eyes until he managed to see a small shadow in his door. The shadow moved towards him, not bothering to light up the candles. The shadow appeared to be panting and dragging its feet with lots of effort.

Once Leroy recognised who it was, he immediately got up, ignoring the sudden imbalance from his headache.

"Millie! What's wrong?" Leroy reached out to the little girl in front of him. As soon as his hands touched her, Millie fell into Leroy's embrace.

"Danger... Run..." the girl did not have any more strength to speak louder than a mere whisper.

"What..? Millie, are you okay? You're wet..."

Horror filled Leroy's eyes as he realised the dampness in the girl's clothes was due to her own blood.

"Millie! Hang in there!" Leroy wanted to move to light up the candles and tend to her wounds, but Millie stopped him.

"No!" she said as loud as she could, "You... must run! M-mommy and daddy... they... were k-killed. I don't want them... to kill you too. S-so... run!"

"No, I can't leave you here!" Leroy denied her.

"I-I know... I won't make... it... I can't even... see you... Leroy," Millie struggled to speak, her voice getting lower and lower.

"No, Millie! Don't give up!" Leroy decided to hold on to the girl, hoping it would at least strengthen her life force that was slowly draining out of her.

"Leroy... I'm scared... I-I'm sorry..." Millie let her tears drop and slowly her body relaxed like she was falling asleep.

Eyes widening, Leroy exclaimed, "No! No! Millie!"

He shook Millie's body lightly, but the girl would not open her bright eyes anymore. Just like that, a precious life was wasted away in front of Leroy's eyes.

This was too traumatising that Leroy did not even feel the pounding on his skull anymore. He put Millie's body on his bed, not having the heart to just leave it on the cold floor. At least, Millie deserved something better than being killed by some merciless people and died on the hard ground. Leroy was angry, no, he was livid. Who dared to easily kill children like that?

Leroy stepped out of the house and he could clearly see bright orange light ahead of him. With all his might, Leroy ran to the site, silently praying that there would be more survivors that the dead.

Leroy's heart shattered by the steps he took to the now burning area of his village. The farm which was close to harvest time was turned into nothing else but soot. Houses were ruins and the people he knew was indistinguishable burnt corpses. No more laughter, only blood-curdling screams of pain echoing through the midnight sky. This was nightmare.

Leroy was too stunned by the scene before him to notice that he has become one of the targets to be killed by the rebels now. He did not hear other people shouting for him to run away. He did not realise someone was approaching him as fast as that person could. All he felt was shadow in front of him and he was tackled down to the ground.

"Leroy! What in the world are you doing here?!" a familiar voice was heard and his body was shook hard.

"Stan...ley?" Leroy's eyes cleared up and he stared at his friend with indiscernible expression.

"Stanley!" finally his senses were back to him and Leroy grabbed Stanley's arms, "Millie! They killed her family and her! What's happening here?"

"Stanley, bring him somewhere else! It's not safe here!" another shout and Leroy found out Conrart was there too, fighting the rebels.

"Yes, Sir!" Stanley answered and in a hurry told Leroy to move away, "Leroy, some rebels decided to attack the villagers here. It's dangerous now. I need you to get away now."

"No! I'm staying here!" somehow Leroy was reluctant to leave Stanley. The fear of being left alone was beginning to haunt his mind. No, the last time someone asked him to go to a safer place first, that person did not come to follow him in the end and he was left all alone.

Stanley was actually annoyed that Leroy was acting like a spoilt child, but with one glance, he knew the fear in Leroy's eyes. He did not have the heart to force Leroy to go away.

Just as he was considering of what to do...

"STANLEY!" Conrart yelled even louder, alerting Stanley to the situation at hand.

In a split second, everything happened.

A strong houryoku was heading to Leroy and Stanley. Without thinking, Stanley took Leroy into his arms, biting back his scream as the powerful attack made contact with his back.

As soon as the explosion from the houryoku was gone, Stanley slumped on Leroy. His eyes scrunched in pain as he gasped for more air.

"Stanley!" Leroy was beyond panic. He was extremely frightened that his close friend, the one and only, would leave him alone. Not only that, he might also be the reason for his friend being hurt.

"Leroy..." Stanley called him in between pants, bringing his hand up to Leroy's cheeks.

"Stanley... Don't leave me..." Leroy was starting to cry, unable to withhold his worry anymore.

"Stanley!" Conrart was on their side, assessing Stanley's wound, "This is not good. Wolfram!"

Wolfram who happened to just knocked down his opponents quickly looked at his brother's serious face. He quickly ran over there and kneeled beside his brother.

"What..." his words was cut short the moment he saw the gravely injured man in front of him.

"Please heal him," Conrart asked, ignoring Wolfram's disbelieving look. Why should he urgently heal someone in the midst of battle like this? All the more, wasn't this the man he caught eavesdropping some days before?

Another look and Wolfram noticed the other boy holding the soldier. He was crying rather hard. Was he the boy who helped Gwendal?

'Damn it! Why does he look so similar to Yuuri from here?' Wolfram could not take the boy's tears and began to heal the soldier as much as he could.

When Wolfram started to use his majutsu, Leroy coughed harshly. Just like the time when Gisella tried to examine him using her maryoku. Conrart noted this and made sure to check the reason out later.

"I'm sorry... Leroy..." Stanley murmured, so softly that it did not sound like him.

"No! I'm sorry... because of me... because of me you're hurt!" Leroy was desperate; he was going to lose another pillar of his life. He did not care that his tongue was getting that familiar copper taste bit by bit.

"I'm sorry... I left you alone just to fulfil my ambition. You must be thinking that I'm a bad friend."

"No, I've understood you since long ago! I was not and will never consider you as a bad friend! You're... you're important for me, Stanley!"

"I'm glad to hear that..." Stanley rested his hand above Leroy's and he closed his eyes.

"Stanley! Stay with me!" Leroy squeezed Stanley's hand gently with one hand as another covered his mouth while he coughed again.

"Oi, don't give up now! Damn it!" Wolfram was frustrated because the will to live was something out of his control. Healing majutsu was never able to restore the will to live. It was in the man's own control.

"I think it's time now..." Stanley was calm despite his pain.

With a smile on his face, he confessed, "I think I can trust mazoku and I can understand your dreams, Leroy. One day, there would be unity among us. I believe in it..."

Leroy could not see clearly, his vision was too blurred by his tears streaming down his face again.

"Stanley..."

"Thanks, Leroy, for our good time," the genuine gratefulness was obvious in Stanley's fading voice, "Live, Leroy..."

And the hand that was returning his grip unclenched.

Gone.

Another life right before his eyes.

"Unh..." Leroy hugged Stanley deeply. Tears from his eyes and blood from his mouth. Nothing concerned him other than the precious friend in his arms.

"No... Stanley..." from a whimper, it became a howl of grief, "NO! STANLEY!"

"STANLEY!" Leroy's voice was coloured with deep sorrow, so deep to bring others into it as well.

After some moments, Leroy was no longer trembling and his cry quietened into hiccoughs. He released Stanley's body and laid it down gently, then took Stanley's sword without uttering a single word.

Conrart and Wolfram was looking at Leroy worriedly as Leroy stood up, wiping blood from his chin using his sleeve.

"Leroy, what-" before Conrart could finish, Leroy was already bolting at the rebels, landing blows on them without actually killing them. There was something about his moves, something very familiar to Conrart. Leroy was fighting mindlessly, he was far too rash.

"Leroy!" Conrart joined him, attempting to calm the boy who was blindly fighting. At this rate, the boy would soon pass out from the strain he put in his body. Conrart could not let such a kind soul die of grief.

Conrart called out to him, trying to persuade him to back out of the battle.

But the boy would not hear.

For the reason he held on to his life was gone.

Stanley... was gone.

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><p>I was listening to a very emotional soundtrack from an old game when I wrote this. I got really sad when I remembered some scenes from that game. So yeah, hope I could picture the grief Leroy felt here well.<p>

Please review this chapter! We're getting closer to the climax of the story!


	11. Glimmer of Hope

**Disclaimer: **Standard... I don't own Kyou Kara Maou...

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Glimmer of Hope_

"Wait..." Leroy extended his hand as he watched the retreating back of his closest friend.

"Stanley! Wait for me!" he called his friend louder only to realise that he could not move at all. His legs would not obey him. There was no way he could catch up to his friend who was getting further and further from him.

Leroy struggled hard in the darkness. The only thing he could see was his friend and now even Stanley was starting to be swallowed by the shadow.

Fear, despair, and anguish accumulated in him. He was left alone, trapped in this void.

"Stanley!"

Leroy's eyes snapped open, moving wildly to take in his surroundings. He was sweating so much and his chest was heaving fast from panic.

"Leroy!" Conrart placed his reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, waiting for Leroy to recognise him.

It broke Conrart's heart to see Leroy having a restless sleep when he really needed to get back his strength. After his senseless outburst, Leroy had passed out in the middle of the battlefield. Conrart had to bring him fast to the castle and get him treated, lest he could not possibly be saved in time. Even after passing critical condition, Leroy still did not manage to rest peacefully. Whatever nightmare he had had effectively slowed down his recovery.

Few seconds passed and finally Leroy's breathing evened.

"Sir Weller..." Leroy mumbled hoarsely.

"Yes, how are you feeling?" Conrart smiled gently to the disoriented boy.

"I..." Leroy brought one hand to his forehead, it felt clammy and hot, "This is... What happened?"

"This is Blood Pledge Castle. You've been unconscious for two days now," Conrart supplied.

"Uh..." Leroy closed his eyes, trying to recall something he deemed important at the back of his brain.

As soon as his memory returned, he grabbed Conrart's hand, looking at Conrart with wide desperate eyes, "S-stanley! W-where is he? Is he okay?"

Conrart's face immediately lost its cheering quality; it changed into that of regret.

"I'm sorry," Conrart bowed his head, taking Leroy's hand into his.

"No... No, it can't be..." Leroy shook his head in denial, all the colour drained from his face.

"No! You're lying!" Leroy jerked his hand away from Conrart's and attempted to discard his blanket.

"Leroy, what are you..." Conrart held the boy who was forcing himself to sit up.

"Let me go! I'm going to find Stanley!" Leroy shrugged Conrart's hand, he would find Stanley even as he felt thousands daggers stabbing all over his body.

"Calm down, Leroy," Conrart stood up from his seat beside the bed, staring straight into a pair of celeste orbs.

"No! I need to find him!" Leroy shouted, he began to go into hysterics.

"Leroy, you're going to injure yourself like this," Conrart firmly stopped Leroy from getting out of the bed.

"Let me go!" Leroy fought Conrart with the little strength he had.

"You don't understand me!" tears welled on Leroy's eyes; he would not give up yet.

"Leroy, calm down," Conrart persevered, ignoring Leroy's cry that was becoming louder.

In between Leroy's fit, Wolfram had gotten into the room, following Gisella's steps. Seemed like the amount of noise Leroy made had attracted the attention of the guards posted outside the room. One of them informed Gisella and when Wolfram passed by, he went along.

"What happened?" Wolfram was confused that Leroy got into such state.

"Hold him down," Gisella ordered Wolfram and Conrart as she was going to administer the sedative to Leroy.

With much difficulty, Gisella managed to get the drug into Leroy's system, immediately suppressing his uncontrolled emotion down. His body went limp the moment the drug took effect, but even so, he continued to shed tears in his slumber. He could not accept that he would never be able to see Stanley again.

Conrart adjusted Leroy's position and fixed his blanket. He eyed the boy sadly, 'I understand you. I had lost someone important too...'

"Lord Weller, I need to leave now to attend to other patients," Gisella said as she packed her bag.

"Ah, alright. Thank you very much. I'll be staying here to watch over him," Conrart replied to her, taking his former seat.

Gisella bowed, leaving Conrart and Wolfram in the room.

"The other soldier, Winfred, was an important friend to him," Conrart explained, never taking his eyes off Leroy's sleeping face.

"I heard he was all alone when he arrived in Shin Makoku and Winfred was the only close friend he had, so..." Conrart inhaled deeply, "it's no wonder that he was so shocked to hear the truth."

Now it was Wolfram's turn to glance at his brother's face. Even if Conrart never showed it, was that how he felt when he lost Julia? And worse still, Wolfram had not come to terms with his feelings for Conrart. He was not there for Conrart. He felt really sorry for his brother, for all his childishness at that time.

Reflecting upon the current situation, Wolfram did not dare to imagine if Yuuri was gone or even Conrart himself. Maybe he would be exactly like Leroy moments ago, or more hysterical than that. Maybe by the time he quietened down, half of the castle would be burned to a cinder. No, Yuuri, you must be safe. He did not care what it took, but Yuuri better be safe and sound.

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><p>By the time the sun had set, Leroy woke up for the second time that day. He was much calmer, but his silence did not mean that everything was all well. He briefly scanned the room before fixing his gaze to one point at the ceiling.<p>

"Leroy..." Conrart spoke softly so as to not startle the boy.

Leroy just responded by facing Conrart blankly.

"Be strong. Don't give up," Conrart gently cupped Leroy's shoulder.

Leroy blinked, but that was all he did to return Conrart's encouragement.

"I know it is hard. In fact, I did lose someone important to me too in the past," Conrart stopped momentarily as he realised Leroy's eyes were partially clearing up, "Remember that hope springs eternal. I'm sure Stanley would want you to live your life to the fullest."

"Stanley had said that he believed in your dream, so be strong to realise that dream. Not only for you, but also for Stanley," Conrart was beginning to see that Leroy's senses were back to normal function, "And your hand is never meant to wield sword. You're of a kind and gentle soul. The world of fighting is too harsh for you. Be strong, Leroy. We're here for you."

As Conrart talked, Leroy was wondering how much tears could one produce in a day. He kept on pouring more and more of them, yet they never finished. Leroy just sobbed his heart out, letting everything out before he could move on.

It hurt. It hurt so much to accept the truth that someone you treasure was no longer beside you. It was just too much. Too painful.

Conrart provided what Leroy needed the most at the time, a silent companion. He was there for him. He would make sure that the boy would not be consumed with despair all alone. He would help Leroy to the best of his abilities.

"T-thank you... Sir Weller," finally Leroy had become coherent again.

"It's alright, Leroy. Know that we're more than willing to help you," Conrart was relieved that Leroy was indeed back to his usual self, albeit grieving.

"Could you let me be alone for some time?" Leroy asked politely, eyes red from crying.

"Sure. Take your time, Leroy. The guards are outside. You can call me whenever you need help," with one last pat, Conrart left his seat and went out of the room. Conrart knew Leroy needed his own time, just like Conrart in the past.

At least, Conrart had done his part. He assured Leroy that Leroy was never alone. Maybe the people in the castle could not possible replace Stanley, but they were there for Leroy. Conrart hoped that Leroy would really be strong on his part and continue his life to fulfil his dreams.


	12. Keeping My Promise

**Disclaimer: **I really don't wanna repeat. Read chapter one, kay? It's always the same.

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Keeping My Promise_

Leroy sat alone in his room, his back propped up against few fluffy pillows. He drew his knees to his chest and leaned his chin on them. The room was big, bigger than the whole of his hut back at the village. He felt even lonelier, too much empty space here. How could aristocrats survive living in a humongous room like this?

Dinner tasted like nothing other than ash. That was expected since the essence of his life had gone. Leroy ate not because he wanted to, but because he did not want to worry other people; just for the sake of appreciating those who had helped him.

Leroy's mind wandered further and further into the past where his world, though it was not all well, was filled with little things that brought joy to him. Yes, the world where Stanley was there.

How Leroy missed Stanley's cooking, the way he poked at Leroy when Leroy was starting to doze off at inappropriate times, his gentle pat on Leroy's shoulder, his wide grin, his caring smile, his... everything. Leroy missed everything that proved Stanley's existence beside him.

Now Leroy was all alone... No close friend to confide in...

_Isn't there someone?_

Leroy looked up, glancing around in confusion. He thought a voice rang very clearly in his ears but he did not find anyone nearby. Who was talking to him?

Another flow of memory streamed down his brain. A memory of someone he held dear.

"Dillon..." Leroy called upon that name, burying his face further behind his knees.

"Why... Why everyone important to me had to go?" he whispered in depression, "Am I destined to be alone? To live in a world where nobody cares about me?"

Further coiling his body into a ball, Leroy tried to shield himself from the harsh reality of his life. Somehow, something was obliterating the joyful times Leroy had before. He knew life was not all about suffering, yet he could not summon his strength to move on. He felt like he wanted to just fall into catatonia where he would be oblivious of everything happening around him.

His physical state did not help much either. His head was heavier than any boulder could be, so much thing stuffed inside his skull, making it on the verge of exploding. His body was achy from all the over-exertion he did the day before. And not only that, there was a growing lump in his throat that he did not even want to know what that was.

Unable to stand the churning in his stomach, Leroy doubled over. He hated it when he began to heave.

In a close call, Leroy managed to cover his mouth with both hands as he bent away from the bed and coughed wetly a few times.

The familiar taste of a certain fluid saturated his mouth and he could see some dripped onto the floor. Well, at least he managed to avoid staining his stark white blanket.

Sluggishly, he drew himself up from the bed, finding some rags to clean his mess, his bloody mess.

'I don't think I'm going to live long...' Leroy told himself as he kneeled on the floor and wiped the crimson dots away, 'With this amount of stress...'

_You must not give up._

Leroy froze on his spot, contemplating if he was starting to hallucinate.

_You have courage._

Though he was rather cynical that courage alone could help him, he found that that voice soothed his heart. Even if he was nothing more than a weak human, incapable of wielding a sword or contribute in brainstorming brilliant tactics, he believed maybe there was something he was meant to do. Maybe there was indeed a purpose for his existence.

_...No matter how far away you are, I will always be watching over you. Now and forever._

Leroy closed his eyes, smiling softly as a warm breeze blew through his burdened heart, taking away those heavyweights with it.

_Live, Leroy..._

The last words of his dear friend snapped him out of his mourning, reviving him into a newfound resolve. Yes, before he died, before the life of him ended in whatever way possible, he wanted to do something great; something that would leave his mark in this world.

'I will help to search for the Maou,' Leroy decided.

He put the rags aside, carefully and slowly walking towards the door to make sure he did not lose his equilibrium.

"Uhm... excuse me," Leroy called one of the guards in front of his door.

"Yes, Sir, how may I help you?" he responded immediately and formally, causing Leroy to feel uncomfortable. Who was he to be treated like a distinguished guest?

"I... I would like to meet Sir Weller... Could you bring me to him?"

"Certainly, Sir. Please follow me this way," the guard turned and started to walk with trained steps of a soldier.

Leroy passed a corridor with some paintings on the wall. The most prominent ones were two paintings hung side by side. One is that of a blond man with brilliant blue eyes. Even if it was only a painting, he gave such a regal air around him that made people want to follow him. Another was of a fair man with long and silky black hair, coupled with jet-black eyes and all black attire. This man undoubtedly looked so intelligent, as if within his hands, he carried a dangerous wisdom that would doom anyone dared to oppose him. Leroy guessed, they would really make a great couple of a king and an advisor. Maybe one day he should ask Conrart about those two figures.

Leroy continued to walk ever so slowly. The guard noted that Leroy was yet to recover fully from his injuries, such that he was walking like a turtle. Patiently, the guard paced with narrower steps, waiting for Leroy to catch up, lest he would be lost in the castle.

In the meeting room –that turned to be everyone's collective office nowadays, rather than their own office each– gathered all the Maou's retainers. Even Yozak who was usually out to do some spying jobs or seeking refuge from Anissina's reach was there. They were discussing of what the next step was in order to search for Yuuri. Certainly, they could not keep up the fruitless search. Something needed to be done.

"So far we haven't gotten any clue regarding His Majesty's whereabouts," Gunter sighed as he wiped a frilly white handkerchief on his temple.

"Yes, none of our search parties gave positive news," Gwendal added gruffly. People wondered when those wrinkles would finally disappear from his forehead.

"Kakka, I bring news from the Temple," Yozak informed them, "Lady Ulrike said that she sensed Bocchan's power somewhere near the border of Shin Makoku."

"Is that true?" Wolfram brimmed with hope.

"Yes, she said that happened some days ago, but it was really faint. Then yesterday, she confirmed that it was really the kid's maryoku."

"Anything else you've got?" Gunter asked, wishing there were more leads for them.

"Unfortunately no, Sir. The villages surrounding the borders are generally occupied by commoners and none of them has seen anyone resembling Heika," Yozak scratched the back of his head.

"I see..." Gunter was disappointed, looking down to think of ways to make use this new though limited information.

"Should we go and sweep over the area?" Conrart suggested, considering that maybe they have better chance of finding Yuuri because they know him personally.

"That's advisable. We would be more sharp-eyed towards any trace of His Majesty," Gwendal agreed with Conrart.

"Good! Then we shall go immediately!" Wolfram was really eager to find his long-lost fiancé.

"Wait, we shouldn't just head there blindly. Considering the recent attacks, we sh-" Conrart was cut short as a vision flashed on his eyes.

Something. Something bad was happening to Yuuri. Conrart was sure of it. He saw nothing but red. Subtly, he could even feel the pain in his chest as he froze on his spot.

"...-rart! Conrart!" Gunter shook Conrart's shoulder lightly. He was worried that his best student suddenly stopped talking midway with his eyes widening and face dazed.

"Ah..." Conrart cleared his view, looking at a concerned Gunter with confusion. He blinked his eyes a few times, realising everyone was looking at him with the same expression as Gunter's.

"Are you okay?" Gunter held his shoulder firmly, making sure he stayed in the real world.

"Ah yes, I'm fine. Just..." Conrart trailed, still trying to fully grasp what he saw.

"Just what? We can't have you fall ill right now," Gwendal probed mildly, veiling his concern for his younger brother. He should tell Conrart to see Gisella later if Conrart was indeed feeling unwell.

"I'm fine. Sorry... Just now I had a feeling that something might happened to Heika. Hopefully, he is fine..." Conrart explained with a serious face, 'No, Yuuri must be safe, no matter what it takes.'

The atmosphere in the room was getting tenser. Conrart was rarely wrong about his feelings when it came to Yuuri. If he said something like this, it might as well be an omen for them. Fast! They needed to formulate a plan fast and take action to find Yuuri.

"Let's get going then. So our plan is-" Gwendal was interrupted by timid knocks on the door. Who dared to disturb when they were having an important meeting?

"Come in," Gwendal invited the uninvited guest in.

A dark blue head poked into the room. Hiding behind the door, his dazzling turquoise orbs staring unsurely at every occupant in the room, "Umm... Is this a bad time..?"

"Oh it's you. It's alright. What's the matter?" Conrart moved forward, smiling gently.

Realising that the pressure in the room had dropped down below the earth, Leroy stepped slowly into the room.

"Please... Please allow me to help you find Heika!" Leroy burst out with determination blazing out of his small stature.

Conrart and everyone else were surprised for a second. Not everyone had met Leroy in person, but his appearance right at that moment convinced everyone of his strong will.

"We would gladly accept your help, Leroy," Conrart put a warm hand on Leroy's shoulder, "But are you sure? It could be very dangerous for you."

Leroy did not answer; he just stared right into Conrart's cinnamon eyes.

"And seems like you hid something from me..." Conrart scanned down to Leroy's shirt.

Following Conrart's eyes, Leroy discovered something on his shirt and flailed, "Ah! This... This is nothing. I-I'm fine, really! I could still go with you. So... so please let me join you. I... I..."

Oh man... How in the world could Sir Weller see the small spots of blood hidden by crease on his shirt? When even he himself did not realise it!

"Alright, alright, I believe in you. Now let's get you changed, okay? You should rest for now. We'll be going tomorrow," Conrart turned Leroy around and guided him out of the meeting room with both hands on his shoulders.

"Stubborn, isn't he?" Yozak whistled, cheery attitude back in place.

Gwendal sighed, putting his palm on his forehead as he took his seat. One more reckless person to deal with.

"Don't you think he would make best friends with Bocchan?" Yozak smirked.

"Or worst, because they're both so naive..." Gwendal muttered under his breath.

"Well, let's just wait until Conrart is back and we should go through our strategy for tomorrow," Gunter clasped his hands as he also sat down. He felt so refreshed after watching the boy just now. It embarrassed him that resourceful people like the Maou's advisors was almost lost to despair, when a boy, with nothing but just a weak body, could be so determined to succeed.

Yes, they would surely find Yuuri!

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><p>Before the day ended, Leroy had a chance to meet up with some villagers who survived the unrest the day before. He told the villagers of his plan to go and search for the Maou. It was expected that some of them was worried for him because Leroy was never a strong boy when it comes to physical activities. However, seeing his resolve, the villagers just wished him the best of luck. They loved Leroy as one in their big family and they want nothing else but for Leroy to find his joy.<p>

One last dinner was shared together. Tomorrow, everything might change into who knew what. Thus, the most important thing for them now was to enjoy their time at the present. Hopefully, everything would come to Leroy's favour tomorrow. Hopefully...

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><p>Hellooo!<p>

Woo... I'm really excited to write now! Thanks for everyone who faithfully waiting for my updates! I don't think I can update regularly, but I'll write as much as I can. :)

Thank you _jenni miko _for your review! You made my day! You know what, before I owned an account here, I had read your story and I really really love it! Haha... Maybe if you still have the plot, you could continue? *wink

Okay, on to the next chapter! :D


	13. Mission Start

**Disclaimer: **Can be found in chapter two!

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Mission Start_

Conrart visited Leroy's room just as the teen was getting ready to sleep. When Conrart entered, Leroy was letting his shoulder-length hair down, leaving it draping freely around his face. Save for that feature, and of course some colours, Leroy would make into Yuuri's twin. Conrart mentally chuckled as he imagined Yuuri being so shocked to find someone who looked so much like him and then Yuuri would surely add this to his ongoing list of Shin Makoku's quirks.

"Going to sleep soon?" Conrart scanned Leroy's posture, making sure that he was really fit as he had claimed before. Conrart was not going to crumble the recently recovered health, so he was being really careful about taking Leroy along in his search for Yuuri.

"Yes," Leroy smiled as he sat down on his bed, already in his pyjamas –well, not like he had something else to change into anyway.

"How about you, Sir Weller?" Leroy asked, petting the soft fabric of his blanket slowly. He was going to miss this comfort the moment he left the castle for his mission.

"Ah I was just doing some round check, then I thought I should visit you to tell you more about tomorrow's plan," Conrart answered after he was satisfied of Leroy's current state.

"Tomorrow we'll be leaving early in the morning. We're going to check the villages around the border because the Genshin Miko sensed Heika's power somewhere near there. We'll try to find any trace of him in those villages," Conrart finished his explanation, leaving out the details about possible rebel attacks for later time.

"Alright, then I will meet you in the courtyard?" Leroy offered. After some tour around the castle, he roughly got the gist of the castle's ground plan –at least he knew how to go to the meeting room and the courtyard.

"That should be fine. Well, you should sleep now, it's getting late," at the sound of neighing horses, Conrart flicked his eyes ever so slightly towards the window. Leroy seemed to catch that millisecond reaction, but before he could inquire further, Conrart had moved to take leave of him.

"Excuse me," Conrart nodded and proceeded to the door.

Leroy just nodded back blankly while his brain worked to figure out what was happening.

Upon leaving Leroy's room, Conrart travelled hastily down the dimly lit corridor towards the courtyard. The guest rooms were not that far from the courtyard and his hearing told him the sound of horses came from there along with soldiers' voices. What could cause people to arrive back at night with such commotion?

Reaching the destination, Conrart saw his elder brother already addressing some guards, listening to their reports.

"Gwendal," Conrart alerted Gwendal of his presence, "What happened?"

Gwendal turned to meet Conrart in his eyes, "The rebels attacked another village, just next to the village before this."

"What? We should handle it right now," Conrart concluded, his left hand gripping at his sword.

"Yes, I've already asked my squad to get ready."

"I'm coming along too," a familiar voice joined from behind Conrart.

"Wolfram," Conrart was surprised to find the blond prince still awake after he said he wanted to retire early during the dinner.

Wolfram stepped forward, ignoring Gwendal's and Conrart's look that told him he should stay and protect the castle. No, not when it came to Yuuri. Besides, if he thought about the recent frequent attacks, it was possible that the rebel had something to do with the missing Yuuri.

Gwendal gave up as he recognised that his youngest brother had gone into stubborn mode –a trait that ran in the family, with zero percent chance of successfully opposed– and let him go along to handle the rebels, "I'll inform Gunter about this. It seems like our plan has been advanced by few hours."

Conrart remained thoughtfully silent after commanding his own squad, muttering apologies to Leroy as he was going to leave Leroy out of this mission with this sudden change, 'I'm sorry, Le-'

"Leroy?"

Now only did Conrart notice another figure, standing before him, a hand behind one of the pillars.

Leroy stared at him, his eyes spoke more that his words actually. Conrart was completely sure those eyes pleaded for him to be taken along. Nevertheless, it was too risky. The reported number of the rebels was big, even after quite a number of them were captured. The actual size of the bunch was not known yet and Conrart could not just endanger Leroy like that.

Conrart was going to convince Leroy to just rest back in his room, but Leroy started earlier, "I know that area very well. After all, I lived there for months."

Now standing right in front of Leroy, Conrart faced Leroy sternly while at the same time making sure he did not scare Leroy too much, "It's dangerous."

"I know," Leroy unexpectedly did not waver from Conrart's penetrating gaze, "I won't disturb you all. I will just help with the evacuation or something non-confrontational."

Conrart spare another few seconds to test if the boy would back off, but he did not. Conrart knew so well, as he had encountered similar situation with Yuuri before, that it was best to comply with Leroy's request and protect him from there. It was better than letting Leroy deciding on rash action on his own.

"Alright, but you must stay out of the fight in whatever possible way," Conrart reminded Leroy.

"I promise," Leroy committed himself to Conrart's condition in order to follow him.

When Gwendal returned to the courtyard, ready to head out, he noticed an additional person in his original party. Immediately he locked his cobalt eyes on hazel ones for explanation.

That look! Gwendal mentally groaned. What did he do in his life that so many people he had to protect were making life difficult for him? It was as though everyone who stepped into Blood Pledge Castle were in some way or another bound to be stubborn eventually.

With the hope that everything would turn out just fine, the people headed out of the castle towards the west border, where the rebel attacks were reported to be.

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><p>It was not Leroy's first time watching people fighting with one another to the point of extremities such as killing. However, Leroy still could not stand, let alone accept, such action. No matter how hard he tried, he could never understand the point of killing another person. What was there that could replace something as precious as life? Did they not know that so many people struggled so hard to live? Did they not understand that life was meant to be kept instead of thrown away?<p>

As much as Leroy claimed he knew the area well, he had to think hard and dig in his memories for the safest route of evacuation. No doubt the rebels have the map of the vicinity at their fingertips and they used it very well too. The obvious routes and even the less ones were completely blocked. There was no way they could break through the blockade without endangering the villagers who knew nothing of self-defence.

'Fast, Leroy! You need to think and remember!' Leroy urged himself, recalling every hidden passageway in the village.

His memories flew to the past, undeniably to the time he had spent with Stanley. Leroy bit his lower lip, shaking his personal sentiment away. It was not the right time to indulge in his own problem, not after he had made up his mind to help others.

There was a place that popped into Leroy's mind like a snap of his fingers. Yes, Leroy thought that place should be safe and well-hidden from the rebels. All in all, it was actually a secret place between Stanley and him.

"Sir Weller!" Leroy called the commander who was busy pushing back the rebels from coming into the temporary area where the villagers gathered.

As the enemy went down, Conrart took a step back and approached Leroy.

"I know a safe place for the villagers," a sense of urgency toned Leroy's voice, "We should direct them as fast as possible."

"Are you sure? We're kind of surrounded by them right now," Conrart assessed the young boy before him; he did not seem to be bluffing.

"Most routes are blocked, but I remember one through the woods," Leroy pointed with his thumb to the back, where the dark forest lied ahead.

For the second time Conrart eyed the boy deeply and the boy in turn reciprocated with the same –if not stronger– determination flashing in his celeste eyes.

"Alright, I'm counting on you," Conrart firmly held Leroy's shoulder for a moment and the proceeded to make necessary arrangements.

Within mere minutes, they formed a new plan. Leroy, Yozak, Wolfram and a few soldiers would go ahead to the clearing in the forest through the hidden route to check on the site. If it was really safe to shelter the villagers there, then a few would return to inform the rest of the people, while some remain to secure the area.

Leroy led the way to the clearing skilfully, with Yozak taking note of every single mark and turns along the way. Yozak had to admit that the path was really tricky that he was surprised Leroy could confidently walk forward in a brisk pace. The clearing was not so far from the village, but its indirect route could make anyone unfamiliar with the area get lost.

"Alright, this area is safe. Not bad kid," Yozak grinned after he swept around the perimeter of the clearing.

Leroy smiled back to him, happy that he was useful for them. At least his coming there was not all for nothing.

Wolfram stayed behind with the soldiers to set up some tents and watch out for rebels, whereas Leroy and Yozak went back to give the go-ahead signal for the evacuation. Actually Yozak wanted Leroy to stay behind, seeing how the boy began to wilt from fatigue, and assured Leroy that he would not lost his way. However, Leroy insisted on going back, telling Yozak that he needed to show Yozak some concealed traps in the forest.

Leroy was half-running, to which Yozak could easily catch up with his normal walking. Leroy pointed here and there to various subtle markings which indicated some traps which they could use to their advantage. Really, the traps were very simple, nothing life-threatening, but enough to restrain the any movements of a trained soldier. If anything, the purpose of setting traps there was more to deter anyone travelling further, hence discovering the clearing, rather than to harm the trespassers.

Back at the village, the situation was still quite dire. The rebels kept on attacking the soldiers and the villagers. Nobody knew what their ulterior motives were, but it was assumed that they only wanted to create some ruckus in Shin Makoku.

With a loud whistle, Yozak signalled to Conrart and Gwendal that they could begin to move the villagers from the battlefield. Both commanders promptly did so.

As more and more villagers left the area, the rebels strangely withdrew from the battle, though they still held their ground in blocking the passageways. Conrart and Gwendal figured out that the rebels might still have an ace up their sleeves, so they played along. After making sure none of the rebels followed them, Conrart and Gwendal headed to the clearing, taking the position of the last in the whole group.

After everyone reached the clearing, they were straightaway busy with healing wounds, resting, and comforting the villagers. Parents were hushing their children, persuading them to get some sleep so that when they wake up, they would find themselves in a better place. Younger people helped to tend the elderly, assisting the healers in their duties. Everyone was occupied in their own activities.

Conrart was looking for Leroy, unable to find him anywhere visible. He was beginning to feel worried for Leroy, recalling the time when Leroy threw up blood near healing majutsu, which the healers were actively using right now in this area. Upon finding him with Shin Makoku's best spy, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Leroy, are you alright?" Conrart sauntered towards the two of them, noticing Leroy had leant on a tree, sliding against it slowly to sit down.

"Ah, Sir Weller, yes I am," Leroy smiled, though the bags under his eyes did not make him look better, "Just... a little tired."

"It's well past kid's bedtime. So it's no wonder..." Yozak teased Leroy; the latter could only pout with a slight blush, too embarrassed to admit that what Yozak had said was kind of true.

"Haha... I'm just joking. Alright, I'll keep what you said in mind. Later!" Yozak waved his hand and disappeared into who knew where.

Conrart watched Yozak blending in the shadows, wondering what Leroy told him before. Never mind about that, Conrart needed to make sure Leroy was fine first.

"Do you need anything? I could help you to get it since... well, you can't go to where they're using majutsu," Conrart positioned himself to get a better view of Leroy's state. He wished the campfire was playing tricks on his eyes because Leroy appeared to have an unhealthy pallor on his face.

"I'm good. Thank you very much," Leroy replied sincerely, "I think I could just make use of some sleep here."

"Alright, I'll be standing guard here. If you need..?" Conrart stopped talking, realising the boy had closed his eyes, breathing in steady rhythm.

Leroy must be so exhausted that he fell asleep within seconds. Conrart draped a cloth he had found to keep him warm. Such a strong will inside a small body. Conrart decided that he should really watch over Leroy for Leroy might be the key to find Yuuri.


	14. Conspiracy

**Disclaimer: **Standard! In chapter three!

* * *

><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Conspiracy_

Leroy stirred, then fully awake after blinking his bleary eyes a few times. He felt disoriented at first upon seeing campfire somewhere across him and a blanket on him. In a surge, he remembered everything that had happened previously. He wanted to get up, but found that his legs would not obey his command.

"You're awake already?" someone to his right spoke, "That's really fast. You only slept for about ten minutes. What a power nap."

Leroy turned his head to see a familiar young prince there, "Uh... um... you are..."

"Wolfram von Bielefeld. Sir Weller asked me to watch over you for a moment as he had something to attend to," Wolfram answered the question in Leroy's eyes even before he had a chance to voice it out.

"Oh... right... Thank you," Leroy mumbled; his nervousness around strangers in full operation.

"Here," Wolfram passed him a glass of something warm, probably tea.

"T-thank you..." Leroy reached out to take the glass, but the moment Wolfram let go of it, his hand shook and he dropped the glass, spilling whatever inside.

"Aahh!" Wolfram moved away in reflex.

"S-sorry... I'm sorry," Leroy panicked, feeling guilty and helpless.

"Seriously..." Wolfram returned to his seat, taking the glass –which luckily did not break– from the ground, "You should just say it if you can't hold it."

"I'm sorry..." Leroy apologised again, being afraid of angering the prince further.

"Hey, you're a man, aren't you? Shape up!" Wolfram half-heartedly scolded Leroy as he was annoyed with Leroy keeping on saying sorry.

"Ah... alright... so-"

"No more sorry!" Wolfram cut Leroy before he could say that word again.

"Alright... s- ah alright..." Leroy wished he could just keep his mouth shut.

After some awkward silence, Wolfram placed another cup of tea with a straw near Leroy.

"Thank you," Leroy said in a volume barely louder than a whisper. He thought Wolfram would leave him, but surprisingly he stayed there in company.

Leroy's mind wandered again. This clearing reminded him of his sweet albeit short time befriending Stanley. This clearing was a secret between the two of them.

Stanley always appeared so sturdy and strong. He always maintained that independent facade wherever he goes. However, beneath that impression laid a deep suffering and grief. This clearing was the witness when Stanley would unleash his suppressed emotions.

It happened unintentionally when Leroy followed a black mood Stanley out of worry. Stanley travelled deep down into the woods and Leroy was afraid he would get injured by some beast there. Turned out that the forest was actually very safe, inhabited only by tame animals.

There he saw Stanley threw away his bag, sat down on the grass, and covered his face. Not long after that, Stanley groaned. Leroy was about to leave his spot when Stanley punched the earth hard, his hand pounding continuously against the grass-padded soil. Then he started to vocally express his disappointment with this unfair world. He questioned why it must be his family that was murdered by bandits, why there was nobody to share his pain, and above all, why he could not be himself. He wanted to show his true feelings, but he always could not.

Leroy's heart shattered at that. He was a friend, yet he, in fact, did not understand Stanley that much. He went out of his hiding, purposely alerting Stanley of his presence, and sat with Stanley on the clearing, providing a silent companion just like Stanley did the first time Leroy arrived in Shin Makoku.

It was during that time that he realised he had a special place in Stanley's heart. Stanley trusted him more than anybody else and Stanley finally opened up to him; telling him of the bitter past that Stanley tried to no avail to forget.

At the end of that day, they promised to keep this place a secret between them. This clearing was like a safe haven whenever they feel down. Nobody would disturb them by giving prejudice or unneeded pity. It was a connection they both forged here. Once one went missing into the woods, another would know where to find that one.

Now that Stanley was no longer beside him, Leroy wondered, maybe as he revisited this clearing, he could relate with other people. Not that he would leave his memories with Stanley behind, but maybe, just maybe, he could find another friend he could trust his life with.

"Can... can I ask you a question?" Leroy attempted to start a conversation with Wolfram.

"Huh? What is it?" Wolfram replied without showing so much care about it.

"How is the Maou like?" Leroy saw the changing expression on Wolfram's face, "I mean, I heard about him being nice and compassionate and all that... but I want to know what the people personally dealing with him feel about him."

Wolfram took a few deep breaths, deciding on paying attention to the campfire instead of Leroy's face as he responded to the boy's curiosity, "He's just as people describe him... Friendly, too friendly," Wolfram added cheater mentally, "and sincere."

Leroy did not expect Wolfram to have such a dreamy face; he surely had fond memories of the Maou. Leroy came to admire the Maou even more, to be able to make his subjects so loyal to him, serving him out of affection, not just duty.

"He changed a lot of people. He changed me too, in a good way. But really, sometimes I wish he would care more about himself. Throwing himself into danger, just because he doesn't want to see others hurt... He makes lives of his protectors hard. Not only that, later on we will have to clean up his mess. Well, actually he didn't mess up more than he helped us, but still... It's very annoying when you try to protect someone and that one doesn't want to cooperate..." Wolfram's confession turned into a rant as he complained about the King.

Underneath all that, Leroy discovered something, "But you love him, don't you? Romantic or platonic..."

Wolfram was stunned with Leroy's sudden remark. His eyes widened, mouth gaping in the midst of his speech, and a blush crept up his fair cheeks.

"B-... T-..." Wolfram stuttered; face felt hotter than ever, "Wh-... Who are you to say that?!" Wolfram looked away, trying to cover his tomato-red face.

"Who loves that wimpy king... cheater all the way till the end of the world... reckless annoying stupid naive gullible-"

"Alright, that's enough," Conrart interjected, touching the now standing Wolfram's shoulder gently as he plastered that knowing smile on his face, "Don't you think it's too much for Leroy?"

"Lord Weller," Wolfram found his brother's face bearing the expression he hated so much because it meant that Conrart knew what was in his heart, "But it's true," he insisted.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Conrart ended the argument right there.

Leroy was going to drink his tea when a scream echoed in the clearing, "AHHH!"

"The hell?!" Wolfram shouted in surprise.

Everyone's head turned to one direction, there, on the other side of the campfire, a lady was held hostage. Apparently a rebel had successfully disguised himself as a villager and now he was starting another problem.

Leroy's heart beat rapidly from the sudden rush of adrenaline. He quickly got up on his feet, though that resulted in him felling dizzy. Using the bark of the tree as a support, he steadied himself. Squinting his eyes to look past the bright campfire, he could see a man, holding a knife to a lady's neck, was glaring at anyone daring to approach him.

The soldiers cautiously ushered the villagers to step aside, distancing themselves from the rebels; rebels and not rebel because more of them appeared out of nowhere. In a blink of an eye, they were surrounded again. So this was their plan from the beginning, to corner the villagers into an even more isolated place.

Leroy was trembling; he had a very bad premonition from the way the rebels seemed to search for someone among the villagers and landed their eyes on him before smirking.

"You!" another rebel pointed his sword towards Leroy, shocking Leroy.

"If you want to save this lady, hand yourself over in exchange for her!" the rebel demanded loudly.

"A-..." Leroy was anxious now, showing signs of panic attack. He had to save the lady, but he was also scared of his fate.

As he was about to surrender himself, Conrart grabbed his shoulder, whispering, "No, wait. From the looks of it, he's not going to let go of that lady."

"B-but Sir Weller..." Leroy was still shuddering, but somehow the contact with Conrart made him slightly calmer.

"Trust me, don't just blindly go there."

"What are you waiting for?!" the same man yelled, "I am going to kill this lady right here, right now!"

"Aah... S-save me... P-please..." the lady begged, tears streaming down her face.

"Faster!" now the rebel pointed his sword towards the hostage's heart, threatening to stab the woman on that spot.

"Release her and we will let him go!" Conrart countered the rebel, hand never leaving Leroy to assure him that no harm shall come on his way.

"Tch!" the rebels looked at one another and nodded.

"Fine, we will release her!" he moved his dagger away from the woman who was clutching her neck, trying to protect it in case the rebels changed their mind.

The rebel pushed the woman, urging her to walk on her own to the other side where the villagers and soldiers gathered.

"Just walk slowly there. Trust me," Conrart murmured with one last pat on Leroy's back.

Leroy glanced at Conrart, at his determined and protective face. Deep in his heart, he thought that maybe Conrart was the one he could really believe in now.

Leroy walked really slowly, hesitant to be in the hands of the rebels, while the woman was running back to return to her husband. Strangely, the rebels did not do anything even though it was clear that they were at disadvantage. What were they plotting?

The moment the woman and Leroy crossed path, multiple actions were taken at once. Gwendal secured the woman, while Conrart and Wolfram rushed forward to attack the rebels.

"Hold it!" the rebel maintained his smirk, holding out a sickening red houseki which immediately shone bright.

"Ugh!" Wolfram fell to one knee, clutching the fabric of his uniform just above his chest.

"Wolfram!"

"Lord von Bielefeld!"

In an instance, Leroy and Conrart were on Wolfram's side, holding the gasping prince.

"My my... aren't you persistent?" mocked the rebel, "Do you think we're so dumb that we won't predict such thing?"

"Now hand him over, or else..." another person came into view, this time strangling a different hostage.

"T-that..." Leroy's eyes rounded, tremors returning in full force in his body.

The hostage... he looked like the Maou! Leroy could not see his face because he did not seem to be conscious. The jet-black hair and the black gakuran he wore, they were exactly like the Maou's. The rebel just dragged his feet without a care of anything in the world.

"N-no... no... don't hurt him," Leroy stood up, getting ready to just throw his life away. He could not let the Maou exchange his life for a mere commoner. The Maou was more important than Leroy believed he could ever be.

"Leroy!" Conrart and Wolfram simultaneously called for him to jerk him out of his daze.

Wolfram gripped Leroy's arm, preventing him to go further, but Leroy fought his way round.

"Darn! Leroy!" Wolfram said louder, watching Leroy getting nearer to the rebels' side.

"Conrart!" Wolfram turned around to his brother, still kneeling beside him.

"I know," Conrart face was really serious.

'Yozak, where are you?' Conrart scanned his surrounding, waiting for the signal from his comrade.

Earlier, Yozak told Conrart that Leroy noticed something amiss among the villagers. There were unfamiliar faces among them. Leroy lived in the next village, but he worked for people in that village. Thus, he practically knew every one of them as the village was also very small in size. Leroy informed Yozak of his observation and asked him to just get ready in case something bad happened.

Yozak relayed the information to Conrart that he was going to scout the area for a while and send a message to Gunter to deploy reinforcements from the castle. When everything was ready, he would then signal to Conrart to reveal the rebels' cover. However, they did not expect the rebels to break their own disguise so soon.

And about the new hostage claimed to be Yuuri, Conrart and Wolfram and every other advisors knew he was not Yuuri. There was subtle difference in the hostage's hair and physique. They had dealt with the Maou personally that they knew exactly how Yuuri looked like even without seeing his face.

Even so, Leroy was so out of his mind and he possibly believed for real that the hostage was the Maou. Conrart had no choice but to wait for Yozak because he could not just blatantly admit that he knew the hostage was not the Maou. That would endanger the poor boy's life, judging from the rebels' hostile actions.

After few seconds of eternity, the familiar whistle rang in the clearing, but too late... Leroy had...

"LEROY!"

"NO!"

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><p>Aah... sorry sorry I have to end it here. Hehe... Next chapter, the climax!<p>

Oh and another thing, my ISP is being annoying by blocking fanfiction for no apparent reason. So I have no choice but to use my mobile instead of laptop to update. So sorry... Update will likely be slower. Darn, it's so hard using mobile... Really slow...


	15. Truth

**Disclaimer: **Don't wake me up to the real world where Kyou Kara Maou doesn't belong to me.

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><p><strong>Watching over You<strong>

_Truth_

There was a blinding light coupled with a massive explosion with Leroy being the epicentre of it all. As the air settled, Leroy was surrounded with the ever-growing bluish aura, flaring dangerously at any enemies daring to approach. Leroy stood his ground firmly regardless of his initial fear. At the sound of a familiar rumbling in the sky, a hidden truth was revealed to the King's loyal comrades and his people.

"Le-... Yuu-...ri?" Wolfram was stunned, the extreme pain he felt from the houseki totally numbed.

Conrart was beyond speechless. He could only stare at the boy ahead of him with eyes as big as a dinner plate and jaw hanging loosely.

Slowly, the disguising colours from the boy's body faded away. Starting from the roots of his hair, the dazzling indigo colour crumbled, showing the real silky black locks underneath. Though the hair remained at its shoulder-length, with the return of its original shade, it was plain obvious that the person stood before the people was the Maou himself.

"Who dared to disrupt the peace in my country?" the deep authoritative voice of the Emperor permeated the dead silent clearing.

When the thunder cracked, momentarily brightening the dark woods, the rebels could see that the King's intimidating jet-black orbs were directed at none other than them. Beneath that slit pupils was a blazing protective fire, fuelled by anger at injustice. The King took a small step forward, gliding ominously towards the frozen rebels.

"Yuuri..." Conrart whispered, noticing that Yuuri's state was not quite right.

People might think that Yuuri's dancing maryoku in the air was creating some effects, but Conrart knew Yuuri too well in all state he was in. As steady as Yuuri presented himself, his hands were clenched into tight fists. Yes, he was shaking, but not because of anger or any other emotions. Conrart was very sure something was still hurting Yuuri from the slight trembling of his figure and the shuddering breath he drew.

"Who?" the Maou repeated his rhetorical question, fishing for any remnants of defiance from rebels.

Upon getting no answer –which was completely to be expected from anyone of sound mind– from the rebels, Yuuri amplified his power, destroying all houseki existing there. Now it was the rebels' turn to be frightened, watching hopelessly as the only ace card they had was shattered into useless pieces of junk.

"B-b-bastard!" a man acted out of desperation. He pulled the fake Maou hostage, pointing his blade at the boy's carotid artery, "B-bow down to us, r-right now! Or el-else..!"

The calm Emperor glanced to the man, confidently putting a knowing faint smirk on his lips.

Realising that the King would never catch his bait, the rebel then made an attempt to prove his words. He moved the dagger closer to the boy's neck, intending to add just a scratch there. Nevertheless, before the sharp blade even touched the boy's skin, Yuuri had already reacted.

The dagger was slapped away from the rebel's grip, ended up flung down onto the grass. The hostage was surrounded with a protective aura, securing his limp body from any prying hands of the rebels. Yuuri used his maryoku to gently move and lay the boy down in front of Gwendal who was standing further back in the defence line, safer from harm's way.

Gwendal immediately assessed the boy's condition and informed the Maou as soon as he was done, "He's fine, Heika. Just unconscious."

Yuuri nodded an acknowledgement before he averted his attention back to the bunch of deviants facing him.

"Thou, insolent fools," Yuuri pointed to the group of men who where crowding like herded lambs, "Thou shalt atone for thy sins."

Three humongous water dragons were summoned from the nearby stream; they coiled around the villagers and the soldiers, safeguarding the people, before they loomed behind their master. The water body taking a solid state was snarling at the exposed rebels, ready to attack at any moment's notice from the Emperor.

Of course, the coward rebels, driven only by greed, were terrified that they had come face-to-face with the infamous serpents of the Maou. Their eyes bulged and they gulped audibly upon realising how great the power of the Maou was. They thought that they could take advantage of the situation when said ruler was rumoured to be missing. Now they had to bear the consequences of their wrongdoings all by themselves.

"Thou," Yuuri began again, the dragons slithering closer to the freaked out rebels, "shalt serve this Kingdom down until thy seventh generation. Thou shalt rebuild what thou hath destroyed and aid the ones thou hath hurt."

"That's... all?" a particular mindless rebel blurted out, in which he earned a hard smack at the back of his head and a harsh "Idiot!" from his fellow rebel.

"Enough blood hath been spilled, enough tears hath been shed; the time of forgiveness shalt finally descend upon this world," Yuuri continued, his dragons lowering their heads near their master, like a pet nuzzling up against its owner. Yuuri then placed his hand on one of the dragon's head, "Be grateful, for even god hath mercy."

"He-heika..." one by one, the rebels started to kneel on the ground, glad that the Maou spared their lives. There was no need for any soldiers to capture them or shove them to work because the Maou's compassion had turned their hearts to serve him dutifully.

Yozak, appearing out of his hiding, sighed with a smile, "As merciful as always, ne, Bocchan?"

The villagers, though at first they resented they King's sentence for the rebels responsible for killing so many people, could not help but to be washed in his kindness. They began to cheer for their King, rejoicing for his unexpected rescue.

Yuuri smiled softly, not the smile of the Maou, but his, his own genuine smile. With a pat on the dragon's head, the dragons dissolved into thin air, leaving traces of a few sprinkles. As the water droplets came into contact with the people, they soothed the anxious hearts and healed the wounds. Even if it was not full recovery, the people could clearly tell the difference the healing drizzle brought in them.

As the people were busy cheering that the Maou had saved them, Yuuri's transformation dissipated and he returned to his normal state. His hair was still touching his shoulder because through the months he was missing, he had never cut it.

Conrart jerked his head towards Yuuri, he no longer smiled as he noticed even more the signs of something wrong. Yuuri was gasping and as he hunched over, he coughed violently.

"Yuuri!" Conrart literally galloped to Yuuri's side, catching him as his knees gave way.

In a moment, Wolfram, Gwendal, as well as Yozak were surrounding Yuuri who was leaning on a very worried Conrart's lap. Yuuri was pale like a sheet and on the corner of his lips there was a stain of blood.

"Yuuri... Yuuri, stay with me!" Conrart carefully shook Yuuri whose eyelids were beginning to droop.

"Yuuri!" Wolfram sat beside him, grabbing his bloodied hand without a single care of it.

"Ah... h-hi... I'm back..." Yuuri murmured as he managed a weak smile on his tired face.

"What happened? Why-... why were you Leroy?" Wolfram darted his questions at Yuuri with a mixture of relief that Yuuri was back and a sense of foreboding at Yuuri's current state, "No, never mind that. Tell me what's wrong? Are you in pain anywhere?"

Yuuri wetly coughed a bit more of blood, alarming his friends, "I-I'm... fine. Just-" he coughed again, "h-houju-...tsu."

They were all dumbfounded. What was that? Houjutsu? Did Leroy –no, Yuuri, not cough up blood when he was near maryoku? What did that have anything to do with houryoku?

Before they could further ponder about this, a healer summoned by Gwendal was already taking Wolfram's place, trying to examine the King's condition.

"A-... arrhh..." Yuuri groaned when the healer applied his maryoku.

"Wait, stop," Conrart ceased the process by using his free hand to hold the healer's wrist. The healer, though confused, complied with Conrart, seeing the serious and stern look on his face.

Yuuri scrunched his brows in pain. Initially, it was just the uncomfortable tightening in his chest then it escalated into blood-spitting fits, now there was a sharp pain in his skull. The stabbing on his brain was accompanied with the rush of memories that he did not know he had it when he was being Leroy. Yuuri pressed his palm onto his temple, hoping to ease the twisting and pounding on his head.

In the midst of his agony, Yuuri was somehow able to hint his friends at what was happening to him as more of his memories reappeared, "S-sealed... my...m-memories..." and he was lost again in a pained moan, "Awa-...ken... maryoku..."

"What?" Wolfram wanted to inquire more, but Yuuri was already out cold from pain and fatigue.

"Get him to the castle now," Gwendal commanded, "Yozak, go ahead and alert Gisella. Conrart and Wolfram go with him. I will follow once the villagers are settled."

"Alright," Conrart lifted Yuuri's delicate form gently and Wolfram followed him. Yozak was already on his horse, charging towards the castle.

On the way to the castle, Yuuri was surprisingly awake for a few minutes.

"Con...rad..."

"Yuuri? You're awake?" Conrart and Wolfram stole a glance at Yuuri while still focusing on the road.

"I'm sorry..." Yuuri's voice sounded so small and sad, "Wolfram... too."

"What? What are you sorry for?" Wolfram replied, he could not decide whether he should reprimand or comfort Yuuri given Yuuri's state right now.

"I... I always... troubled you all..." Yuuri took a deep breath, "Sorry... for missing... and... losing my memories..."

Conrart eyed Yuuri, though he could not see Yuuri's face for Yuuri was slumped in front of him.

"I've brought you all... into danger... Never managed to protect you all..."

"That's not true, Yuuri," Conrart objected, "You're always there for us. Even if you didn't remember, you're still watching over us and indirectly protecting us."

"How can you say that you didn't protect us when you've just drained you maryoku again for our sake?" Wolfram added, recalling the moment Yuuri –as Leroy– kneeled next to him when he was attacked, taking a position such that Yuuri was shielding Wolfram from possible oncoming attacks, "Just... just save your strength for now. Quit talking like... like you will leave us again. I will personally torture you if you dared to... to leave me again!"

Conrart found his younger brother's face full of fear that Yuuri would be gone again. No matter how many layers of mask Wolfram could wear, Conrart knew that Wolfram was really concerned for Yuuri. Conrart kept that in mind that Wolfram was another precious soul he had to protect.

"Wolfram's right. Just rest now, Yuuri. We'll be reaching the castle soon," Conrart softly tightened his embrace, silently wishing that it would prevent Yuuri from slipping away from them.

"Thank you..." Yuuri responded in a rather inaudible voice as he succumbed to the darkness that had been nudging at the edge of his vision.

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><p>Tadahh! There goes the surprise(?): Leroy is actually Yuuri! Hehe... I sorta expected some readers to figure this out even before this chapter 'cause I dropped quite a number of hints here and there. :p Good thing nobody said it in the review, lest it's gonna be a big spoiler. Hahaha...<p>

Anyway, hope you like this chapter! Review please! :) It's been so long since I got my last review. Tell me what you think, kay! If you have any request, I'll try to cater for it too!

Gimme about two more chapters to tie up the loose ends and this story is done!

See ya!


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